Mercedes and Evan: A Maplestory Romance
by NatD-LE
Summary: Mercedes has awakened from the ice and has been vigilantly training back to her former power, but she still thinks about her friends, Aran and Freud. She finds a dragon suddenly in Henesys and thinks it's Freud & Afren, but it turns out to be Evan & Mir. Rated T for violent elements in the story.
1. The World I Once Knew

**Mercedes and Evan: a Maplestory romance**

**A few notes before I continue...**

**1. I don't own anything that is directly related to Maplestory, like the characters, their stories, the areas mentioned, etc. I do, however, own the original story of this, like the relationship between Mercedes and Freud, or Mercedes and Evan for that matter, and some of the dialog. Any truth behind said things is purely coincidental. No stealing, please.**

**2. There may be things that I mixed up on. I own an Evan in the actual Maplestory game, but it is my lowest level character, so I haven't advanced into his story very well. All I know of Evan, Mir, Freud, and Afren I got from the Maplestory wiki or my boyfriend, who is a high level Evan(and my husband on Maplestory, actually). I have a Mercedes, however, which I am leveling at a fast pace, so I know her story pretty well. There shouldn't be any problems on her end.**

**3. Warning to first-time Maplers and/or Evan or Mercedes players, there may- no, WILL, be some spoilers in here. The story begins from Mercedes at level 65 or so. If you don't want to ruin the surprise of what is in store for Mercedes and what happens to Evan, you should stop reading right this moment and go play Maplestory. I'll wait for all those people to leave.**

**...**

**Gone? Okay, good.**

**4. This is my first fanfiction, and really one of my first attempts at writing something that isn't role playing, school-related, or related to real life, so please bear with me and leave some helpful feedback and tips if I have done anything wrong.**

**Now, ONWARD TO THE STORY!**

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><p><strong>The World I Once Knew<strong>

The world was so... new.

I frowned as I sat in my makeshift throne, a present from the Elders, looking around from my perch. I could see the slimes clearly, bouncing around with stupid little grins. The occasional adventurer killed a few to continue down the path, or just walked right by them, too advanced to care.

I watched those advanced men or women with interest. As if it were yesterday, I saw those same type of people fighting for their lives against slimes, stronger ones that would slaughter the weak with one bounce and wound even me.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen yesterday. No, yesterday, I fought a monster I have never dreamed of seeing in a place that shouldn't even exist. I sighed.

Suddenly, something hit my chair, knocking me out of it. I turned, my bowguns appearing in my hands, ready to be fired. I was prepared to unleash my full power on the intruder, but stopped, for it was only a slime.

It was alone, likely to have bounced high enough to reach this little perch in the tree. It looked up at me with a cute kitty smile. Cute. But, unfortunately for it, annoying. I lifted one bowgun and shot 2 arrows at it, my movements so quick that it barely had time to utter a squeak before it died and faded away.

I smiled ruefully to myself. It would be back, there was no doubt about it, with no memory of me. I grabbed my chair and stashed it into my bag, then jumped over the edge all the way down the tree to the bottom. I winced when I landed, scaring a few slimes. I chuckled to myself, remembering the faces of Aran and Freud when I scared them like that.

I slowly made my way home, too lost in thought to mind the slimes, my thoughts wrapped around the fond memory of my two dearest friends.

I had no clue if they were alive. Athena told me that Aran has escaped his icy prison a while before I had, or so it was rumored, but I have no idea where he is now. Getting stronger, perhaps. He was always looking for ways to get stronger, even when he had reached his limit in strength. Plus, if his curse was like mine, he would've been knocked down in power and magic. He'd have to retrain.

I just hope he hasn't died trying.

Freud... I wonder if he was even frozen at all. My head knows the answer: not likely. Freud took a fatal blow from the curse. Afren told me so. Freud would be long since dead. My heart wouldn't accept this, however.

My feelings for the two had always been mixed. Aran and I had a long-standing partnership. However, we had a falling out not too soon before the big battle, when I had done something that angered him. I still feel guilty, not because of what I had done, but for letting us depart angry at each other. Now who knows how my friend will feel about seeing me?

Freud... I wasn't sure about. I mean, on one hand, I see him as being a great friend. He was loyal, kind, honest, quite intelligent. He was powerful, having bonded with not only A Onyx dragon, but THE KING of Onyx dragons. He was a good partner in battle, and sometimes a good opponent.

On the other hand, he was attractive and was very good at leaving me and many other girls speechless and blushing.

My confusion is assured.

I had absolutely no idea if his feelings stretched beyond friendship, either. Heck, I wasn't sure MINE did. There were days when he gave me a friendly hug or a polite bow or just outright stared at me and there would be something different, almost... eager or emphasized, about his movements or expression. He got increasingly strange as the big battle against the Black Mage came close. I still remember how, before we went to face him, he looked like he wanted to tell me something, and he started to, but then changed his mind.

Now, I'll never know what he wanted to say.

I had to stop and take a deep breath, trying not to blink and let the tears run down my cheeks. Once I was sure I was calm, I realized I was already at the entrance to Elluel.

I took another breath and stepped into town. I was greeted by the Cygnus Knight guards. They gave me polite bows and murmured 'Your Highness'. I nodded in acknowledgement and walked by, passing a few beautifully-structured houses, made my way to the big tree, and approached the Elders.

The Elders, an old man of grey hair, a young lady of brown hair, and a man of blonde hair much like my own, bowed and murmured formal greetings. I greeted them back and immediately asked for news.

Philus, the blonde man, sighed.

"No, milady. Nothing has changed here nor have the Cygnus Knights detected suspicion." I frowned. I had expected some change, since I haven't been back in Elluel in a few days. Danika, the young lady, piped up when she saw my disappointment.

"Athena sent for you, though" I lit up in attention and she smiled in response.

"Really? Good! I was just about to go there, in fact." I said my goodbyes to the Elders and was just about to climb down the miniature hill the Tree was on when I heard Danika behind me, yelling

"Wait! Your Highness!" I turned to face her as she ran up to me. She hesitated, probably catching her breath, before asking, "W-what is the outside world like so far, milady?" I smiled wryly and patted her shoulder as I told her.

"Too confusing and overwhelming. I absolutely envy you for being so unaware." She probably didn't know if that was a compliment or an insult, but my smile convinced her it was the former. She smiled back, nodded, and went back up the hill while I dashed off to the portal.

**X-X-X**

Henesys...

It's a bustling town, to say in the least. It was always crawling with adventurers, mostly those who were only just starting out. I've been in all the towns on Victoria Island and, out of all of them, Henesys seems to be the focal point of the continent.

It was also the home to Athena Pierce, a former elven child and sister of Danika the Elder, now a revered bowman trainer. I've reunited with her not too long ago, and I was happy to learn that she had not forgotten me or her roots. It is upsetting, however, to learn of all the horrors that have occurred while I was in a deep sleep.

The Black Wings, for instance.

For there to be a group of people who wanted to revive the Black Mage... It was unsettling. Plus, they seemed to know too much about me. Quite unsettling.

I've been ambushed twice, three times if you count those little animal-like minions attacking while I was getting purified water. It was unacceptable.

Athena also told me of surprising and confusing things. The Cygnus Knights, for example. Not only was their existance and the existance of their Empress total news to me, I was surprised that she could be in charge of these so-called Knights. She looked so... young, and feeble, like she had a deadly illness slowly eating her away. It wasn't reassuring to put my town's safety in her hands, but Athena assured me that it was the right thing to do.

I made my way into her home and looked up at the half-floor above me. Sitting at her desk was Athena herself, lost in thought and in paperwork. I didn't want to disturb her, but I was too anxious about what she called me here for. My hands itched to be occupied.

"Athena" I called gently. Her head jolted up in attention.

"Queen Mercedes!" She exclaimed. She stood and jumped down in front of me to kneel at my feet. I had to smile.

"Rise, child. There is no need to be so formal."

"A-ah, sorry" She rose, blushing. "I'm a little angsty today. Plus, you're a queen. It's proper to bow to your queen." She straightened at that fact. I nodded in response.

"True, but I am also your friend, and it is also proper to hug your friend." I smiled and held my arms out. She grinned and gave me a hug.

"Thank you, Mercedes. I needed that." She ran her fingers through her hair and paced the floor. "Arg, not only do I have several bowmen applications to go through, but Mrs. Ming Ming wants to drop by and uuuurg" She grumbled in annoyance, then just as quickly remembered that I was in the room and began stammering out apologies. I shook my head.

"Don't worry about it, Athena. Just let me know how I can help." Athena frowned slightly stubbornly.

"Well, if you mean with MY problems, I can handle it, no problem." I smiled a little. Ah, elven pride. I'm glad that no amount of change to the world has changed that. "...as for YOUR problems, milady, that's why I sent for you." She continued. I nodded. Athena wasted no time explaining.

"Apparently, the Resistance heard through the Cygnus Knights about you and your quest to stop the Black Mage. They want to join us, but the leader wishes to discuss it with you first." I nodded gravely. I had learned from Athena before about the situation in Edelstein and the creation of the Resistance. It was saddening, how poorly those people are treated. Athena dug out a piece of paper and handed it to me.

"Here is a free pass to the Edelstein ship. Once there, head to the underground headquarters. Be wary of Black Wings members in town. Some are Resistance members in disguise, but others can recognize you and capture you." I nodded to the flustered bow master.

"I'll be fine. No worries, Athena." She nodded and looked at the wall clock.

"Crap, I'm going to be late! I'm sorry, milady, I have to run. I'll talk to you soon?" She asked. I nodded in agreement and left so she could lock up her home in peace. I made my way across the town to the taxi when something had occurred to me...

Where WAS the underground headquarters?

I cursed under my breath and started back to Athena's house, but I could already see the dark windows from where I stood and I knew my friend had left. I frowned. Not good. How does one go to a meeting and not know where the place is? I sighed and walked on to the direction of the taxi, thinking that I could ask for directions, though I will surely be in danger if I tried that.

I looked up and around, hoping for inspiration to strike, when my eyes fell upon a strange sight. I froze. I stared at a man, talking to Chief Stan in what seemed to be a heated discussion (probably about his runaway son). Normally, I wouldn't be bothered by this.

...Except for the big black dragon hovering beside the man.

My jaw almost dropped in shock. The dragon... it looked... it looked just like...

Afren?

s-so that means...

...

FREUD?


	2. Meeting Evan

**Geez, this chapter is long.**

**Well then, notes, notes, notes...~**

**1. I don't own anything connected to Maplestory, blah blah blah, you all know this but I feel obligated to write it anyway...**

**Also, I used an idea from Breaking Dawn once in the story. I own nothing of Breaking Dawn, clearly.**

**2. About the ending to the last chapter: Mercedes isn't stupid. She KNOWS that it's not Freud and Afrien that she is seeing. That would be impossible, after all, and her thought process will be further explained in this very chapter. Mir simply LOOKED like Afrien(big black Onyx dragon, and i'm pretty sure Mercedes hasn't seen other Onyx dragons other than Afrien before today) and if it WAS Afrien then, by assosiation, the man the dragon is sticking to would most likely be Freud. More about that in this chapter.**

**3. I didn't say this before, but Happy New Years ^^**

**4. This chapter contains a description of Evan. Keep in mind, I am going off of the Evan class picture. I once read of the differences between Evan and Freud, but I may be wrong, so bear with me here.**

**5. Another obligation: If you don't want Maplestory story lines ruined for you, please don't read further.**

**That is all. And now continuing with the story~**

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><p><strong>Meeting Evan<strong>

I quickly shook my head and blinked several times.

_Get a grip, Mercedes. It's not what it seems. Calm down, calm, calm..._, I thought to myself, slowly taking deep breaths because, for some reason, my breathing was too fast. _It's... it's an illusion. Yes, that's what it is. I must be tired, or inhaled some weird air, or ate some bad food. Yes, yes..._

No matter how much I thought that, it never seemed true. I sighed. Okay, not an illusion. A dream? I winced when I pinched myself on the arm No, not that either... I frowned. If I wasn't dreaming and the dragon was clearly real... Could it be Afrien? I opened my eyes. Barely a second passed, the boy looked like he hadn't even finished his last sentence. Strange how the elven mind works.

I took deep breaths and looked at the dragon. _Alright, process of elimination, Mercedes. This dragon isn't Afrien: find proof_

I thought for a moment. Well, for starters, Afrien was... bigger. Much bigger. A full-grown king of dragons that Freud could only just fit on the back of.

This dragon couldn't be as old as Afrien, either. He looked... not freshly hatched, but closer to having hatched than Afrien could've dreamed.

So... who is this dragon? It's clearly on Onyx dragon- The only one I've ever seen is Afrien, but I've seen plenty of other species in my time. A descendent, maybe? I remember Afrien talking about harboring an egg once, but Freud dropped the subject because of my presence.

Speaking of Freud, if this isn't Afrien, then the man wasn't Freud.

I looked at him closely. He was facing Chief Stan, so I could only see him from the side. He sort of... looked like Freud. Similar face, I suppose, and the hair had the same messy style. But the hair was a different color, lighter. I couldn't see the eyes clearly from here, but they looked green. Freud's was brown.

I slowly calmed as I thought through these differences. Then I began to scowl.

Who WAS this guy? What was he doing with a dragon? An ONYX dragon to boot! Why hasn't Athena mentioned him. He surely came by here- all new adventurers had. I began getting a little angry. It wasn't rational, but I felt ashamed that, for one second, I thought this man- no, boy, actually- to be Freud. An insult to my friend's memory! I should be ashamed... and so should this boy.

I almost stomped over to him, but kept my cool as I approached. The boy didn't notice, but I could tell Chief Stan did- he shifted as if he wanted to acknowledge me, but he was still being yelled at. The dragon certainly noticed- it stared at me in slight shock, probably seeing the cold look on my face and the direction my feet carried me. Good. The dragon was smart.

"...Your son WANTS to come back, but you're too much of a stubborn old geezer to let him step outside of Kerning! Have you no heart?" the boy was yelling.

Tsk, no wonder Chief Stan was so angry. Although, it could have to do with his son.

"Now, see here!" He started yelling back, but was distracted when I pulled out my bowgun and pointed it at the boy. The boy responded immediately. It took no time at all for him to think 'what was that old geezer staring at?', then to turn his head and see the bowgun, then jump back with a yelp.

"Wh-wh-what the he-"

"Silence" I commanded, making a cocking sound with my bowgun, an international way of saying that my bowgun is loaded and I wasn't afraid to use it. He looked like he wanted to argue, but remained silent. Good, he was smart too.

Now I hit a snag, because I have no idea what to do now. I acted impulsively. The boy knew nothing of my thoughts from a moment ago. He didn't know how close I was from yelling 'Freud!' to him and causing much confusion when I noticed just then that it wasn't Freud at all. He didn't know how confusing it was to see that he had an Onyx dragon, a descendent of Afrien. Speaking of the dragon, it had not started growling, but his eyes didn't show anger. They looked... amazed? He examined me as if he didn't know what to make of me.

I fished for a question, or statement. I was holding the boy at bow gun-point. If I remained silent, he could see it as a chance to overtake me. It was just a boy, but if he had a dragon, who knows how much power he already wields. Someone cleared their throat beside us.

"Ms. Mercedes?" Chief Stan asked. The boy's eyes blinked as he processed my name. The dragon also blinked and looked curious.

"Yes, Chief Stan?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of the boy.

"I am grateful that you came to break up our dispute. I was quite worried it would get out of hand" He said. Ah, there was a reason I liked this old chief after all. I could tell from his voice that he was lying, but I was grateful for the excuse. I nodded, lowering my hand.

"My pleasure. I was getting quite worried that this... boy... would hurt you or something" I smiled ruefully at the Chief, who nodded. The boy blinked again, then scowled.

"Who're you calling a 'boy'? You don't look any older than I am" He grumbled. I looked back at him and flashed a cold, cruel smile, as old as his earliest descendent. I could see a little shiver go up his spine.

"Looks can be deceiving." I retorted, and laughed internally at my own inside joke. He seemed to want to shrink into a ball, but held his ground and looked evenly at me.

"W-who are you, anyway? I've never seen you around here before." I eyed him. So he HAD been here before. I must remember to ask Athena about this.

"I am Mercedes, que-... master of the dual bowguns" I quickly corrected myself. It was easy to forget how it might confuse people if I refer myself to the queen of a species that, as far as they know, doesn't exist. He didn't catch the change, thankfully. He just looked curiously at my weapons.

"Dual bowguns? Never heard of them. Are they new archer weapons?" New. More like long-since died off, but I digress.

"Yes, they're archer weapons" I nodded. His brow furrowed as if he forgot something. Hm, not the sharpest tool in the shed, but not the dullest either. My eyes wandered to the dragon. He still looked curious, but cautious when he saw I was looking at him.

"So, who are you?" I asked, still looking at the dragon. He stared at me, probably wondering why it looked like I was asking HIM this. The boy understood I meant him, though. His frown brought back my attention.

"Evan. My name is Evan." He answered. His voice was smooth, for the lack of a better term. No stutter, no obnoxious anger, no fear. He was comfortable with saying his name, as one should.

"Evan. Interesting." I murmured, processing that. Not a typical boy name. Of course, many names nowadays transcend genders. He didn't take it the right way. He scowled.

"What do you mean, 'interesting'? What? Is it too feminine for you? Is that it?" His anger was appalling. I had to laugh. He blinked several times, as if my laugh had disoriented him, but just as quickly scowled deeper. "What's so funny?" He demanded. I brought my laughter down to a soft snicker.

"I'm sorry, but you getting angry over something as silly as me calling your name 'interesting' is just funny to me."

"Oh." He replied, brow furrowing again. "W-well, my name is perfectly normal, thank you" He retorted. I shrugged one shoulder, still smiling.

"Never said it wasn't."

"Fine."

"Fine. So, who is this handsome dragon?" My attention was brought back to the dragon, who looked shocked when I mentioned him out loud.

"D-dragon? W-what dragon?" The boy- sorry, Evan- got nervous, shuffling his feet and looking off to the side. I followed his gaze. Oh, Chief Stan was still there, and he was looking at the dragon as if he was just seeing it now for the first time.

Ah, ignorance is bliss. Even someone as old and wise as the Chief of Henesys was fooled into thinking that the dragon wasn't a dragon- probably an overgrown lizard or something. After all, people were convinced I was part fairy because of my ears and accent, thought modern fairies don't have either of those.

"Ah, Chief Stan. I didn't realize you were eavesdropping. Would you be kind enough to leave us alone?" I asked in the most polite yet dangerous voice I had.

Chief Stan looked at me suddenly, my voice making him shudder, and nodded. "Of course, Ms. Mercedes." He walked off, frowning and muttering something under his breath. Evan let out a sigh that made me look at him. He looked slightly at ease, but didn't say 'thank you' or anything. Hm, not very polite, is he.

I looked at the dragon, who nodded to me with a grateful look in his eyes. I smiled, for it reminded me so much of Afrien and Freud. One would have a humanly skill the other didn't, and their bond made it so they filled in each other's gaps. For example, when Freud himself wasn't polite and gave me a hug instead of bowing, Afrien bowed his head on his friend's behalf. It was funny, and quite interesting.

"So, I ask again. Who is this dragon? Is he yours?" I asked, looking at the dragon curiously.

"Oh, er, yes. He's my dragon. His name is Mir." He said, patting the dragon's shoulder. The dragon looked sideways at Evan and seemed to purr. Their cute moment was interrupted by my giggling. Evan glared at me.

"What's so funny now?"

"I-I'm sorry, but... a dragon named Mir." I snickered even more. "Th-that.. that's just..." I couldn't stop laughing, which made Evan and Mir increasingly annoyed.

"It's a good name, dammit." He grumbled. I tried to calm my laughter

"W-watch your language" I managed to say. He blinked, as if shocked by my order, and frowned.

"S-so! Why did you interrupt me and Chief Stan? I was in the middle of an important assignment, you know!" My laughter slowly died down and I looked at him evenly.

"You looked ready to kill the man, and he you. I had to step in" He looked at me suspiciously.

"Don't give me that. That was a lie set up by the old man. You had another reason for threatening me like that and I'd like to know what it is." Huh. Maybe he was smarter than I gave him credit for. Well then, maybe lying to the boy would be pointless. So, the truth, but a carefully hidden truth.

"Fine, if you insist. From far away, you looked like... an old friend of mine. I wanted to say hello, but then I realized that you weren't him and that made me a little embarrassed and upset. Once I was holding you at gun-point, I realized that there was no reason for my anger. Also, I was quite intrigued as to why you have a dragon." I looked at the dragon briefly. They both looked shocked, probably not detecting a hint of lying in my tone. Evan nodded after a while.

"Okay. Well, I forgive you then" He murmured awkwardly. My eyebrow rose.

"I don't remember apologizing."

"So! What were you doing in Henesys? Not very grand scenery here, so you must have some business to attend to." He said, smoothly ignoring my statement. I pursed my lips. The boy didn't miss much, did he. I sighed ruefully and nodded.

"Yes. I was visiting my friend Athena Pierce. She gave me an assignment in Edelstein." Evan looked interested all of a sudden.

"Edelstein? That mining town with those shady people running it?" I blinked. Either the Black Wings were more well-known than I thought... or...

"Yes, that place. I'm supposed to meet up with the leader of... um..." I hesitated. He tilted his head.

"Leader of... what? The Resistance?" He asked. I acted upon instinct. I whipped out my bowguns- both of them- and pointed them at him, cocking them at the ready. He yelped and jumped back.

"Yes, the leader of the Resistance, but if you think that I'll let you follow me and find their location so you can tell the Black Wings, you are sadly mistaken" I all but growled at him.

"W-what? No! Y-you've got the wrong idea! I-I've been to the Resistance HQ! I've done assignments for them! I'd never rat them out! Honest!" He stammered and almost pleaded with me. I stared him down, looking into his eyes. Big and green and earnest. Not the face of the Black Wings, which I have actually seen twice. But, because I HAVE seen it twice, I can't take chances.

"Fine. I'll believe you, for NOW. But, any steps backward, and I won't hesitate. And I rarely miss." I glared at him, putting my bowguns in place at my hips. I didn't like to do that- they hit me uncomfortably when I walked- but I needed easier access to them in case this boy tried to attack me. Evan nodded uneasily, looking once again like he wanted to shrink into a ball.

"S-so... does that mean I can go with you?" He asked cautiously. I made a face. Did it? He said he had already been to the headquarters. He could show me where it is so I can meet with the leader. However, he may have his own business to attend to. Any unnecessary detours could be a burden on him. I didn't trust him, either. He could be lying about ratting the Resistance out.

"If you want." I finally answered. "If you have any unfinished business to attend to, you don't have to come with me. But I-... I could use your help in... finding the headquarters." I mumbled the last part. He heard me, though. He nodded, his eyes softer.

"Yeah, the place is dangerous to look for. I was lucky not to get caught when I asked for directions. Luckily, I asked a Resistance trainer in code." I nodded and waited for a better answer. When he realized I was waiting for him, he hurriedly said, "Well, I don't have anything better to do! I'd be glad to help." He flashed me a big, goofy grin than made me swallow my laughter.

"Okay then" I nodded to him. "Lead the way" He nodded eagerly and we both began walking to the taxi, him in the lead with his dragon at his side, me in the back with my hands very close to my bowguns.


	3. On the Way to Edelstein

**It's so late(time-wise and time between updates) but it's here. Some notes you don't have to read:**

**1. I own nothing of Maplestory except for whatever I make up. If you play the game, you know what is Maple's work and what isn't. If not, well, refer to ch. 1's notes.**

**2. If you don't want to ruin the Maplestory storyline of Evan and/or Mercedes, please stop reading(though you should've stopped at chapter 1 XP)**

**3. Mir will be talking in this one and it's my first attempt at coloring words. This will occur a few times throughout the story.**

**Story time!**

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><p><strong>On the Way to Edelstein<strong>

It was a long and awkward ride, along with a long and awkward walk TO the ride.

Though we took the taxi, it wouldn't take us to the port. No, it took us to Sleepywood, the closest town to the airport because it is right under it. Evan, Mir, and I were dropped off at the farthest part of the town, too, next to some startled boy wielding a stick who tried to hit the taxi. It was comical, but Evan didn't pay the slightest attention.

First thing I found out about little Evan: he hates silence. I was perfectly comfortable with being alone so I didn't mind silence, but Evan was uneasy. He kept fidgeting when he walked and looked like he wanted to say something, but quickly changed his mind. I watched him from the corner of my eye, a little amused but on my guard as well. I still didn't know if I could trust this boy. What amused me more, though, was that he was trying to talk to Mir as well. Mir gave single-word answers, looking just as amused by his master as I was.

It was strange to hear Mir talk. He hadn't said anything while I confronted his master, because apparently, he was too busy listening to Evan's string of swears and confusion in his head. I half expected to hear Afrien's voice, deep and low baritone that could take the top off a mountain. Instead, I heard a slightly higher voice that really shocked me. He sounded so... young.

_"Mercedes, where did you come from? You look like someone out of this world." _He observed while Evan continued stumbling. I smiled wryly

"Says the huge flying lizard." I retorted. Mir seemed to chuckle.

_"Touche. It's funny, though... We've talked to everyone in Henesys and they all know I exist, but we have never heard about you."_ He mused. The feeling is mutual.

"I wondered myself why that is. Maybe people thought we already knew." I shrugged. Mir nodded, looking thoughtful. A short silence followed as I got lost in thought.

"SO!" Evan suddenly exclaimed, making me jump. "Meeting with the Resistance. Any clue why?"

"U-um..." I hesitated. It was a big dilemma, if I should tell Evan about my true self or not. I still didn't know if he was working for the Black Wings or not, of course, but... Apart from that, he'd surely think I was crazy. When I had awakened at first, I was very confused and questioned everyone I met about the world. They scared me with answers like, 'what are 'elves'?' and 'Ellinia has existed for as long as anyone can remember' and 'how do you not know about taxis? What, have you been living under a rock?' No, just encased in ice.

The odd jobs I had done and meeting Athena again made me realize that the world has changed, there were places where there was only trees or rocks before, and monsters that shouldn't have existed. The elves were rumored to have gone extinct, and therefore, there would be no ruler of the elves. Being told you don't exist isn't exactly a moral booster. However, I digress. I would just be a unique archer with a weird accent and ears. Better than someone who should not only be dead, but extinct.

I didn't know Evan enough to share this information with, nor did he know me enough. I'd have to see how long this lasts. "No, no clue. The Resistance leader just wanted to meet with me." I answered the boy and dragon, looking straight ahead.

"Hm. The leader sent for me too, to ask me to join her battle. Maybe she wants to ask you the same thing" Evan said

"Mmm, maybe." I agreed. He didn't know how right he was.

"Aw cool! We'd be on the same team then, you and I. We'd be kicking bad guy butt all over the place" He started punching the air and making 'hyah!' sounds. I snickered and sighed.

"As fun as that sounds, I'm not sure that'd be possible. Who knows what missions I may get from her or Athena and where they would take me." He stopped punching invisible Black Wings and looked at me with a frown.

"Well, you can't think like that. Then you'll jinx it and we'll never see each other again." I looked at him. He looked and sounded so... disappointed. It confused me a little.

"A moment ago, I was ready to kill you as you cussed me out to your dragon. Now you don't want me to leave you?" I asked. He looked at the ground, brow furrowed and blushing a tad in what seemed to be embarrassment.

"W-well, I have nothing better to do. If you leave, I'll be bored training until I get my next job." He mumbled. I blinked, then raised an eyebrow. It sounded more like he was convincing himself that that was his reason. He was probably scared of what my reaction to his real reason would bring. I wasn't the only one keeping secrets, it appears.

Instead of questioning him, I nodded. We were quiet for a long moment before he started fidgeting again. We made it out of Sleepywood, which was a seriously creepy town that, in my day, was actually a cursed wood I tried my best never to enter. We began climbing ropes to get to the top of the giant tree in the literal heart of Victoria Island(for Henesys was still the focal point). I climbed them no problem, dashing up them swiftly and, before I knew it, I was at the top.

When I looked back, however, I could see that I was a tad too fast. Evan was still near the bottom, trying to climb up ropes and jump them, but he kept falling. Mir teleported ahead of him, but sighed and came back whenever he fell to help him. I sat in my miniature throne and waited, listening to Evan's loud curses getting louder, then slightly softer. After what seemed like an hour, he made it up, covered in dirt, scratches, and a deep scowl.

"Welcome. What took you so long?" I smiled pleasantly. He looked me up and down, probably getting angry at how perfectly clean and unharmed I was.

"Shut up" He finally grumbled, then his scowl melted into a confused frown. "That's a weird looking chair. Where'd you get it?"

I blinked, then quickly got up and looked back at my chair. How stupid of me, I forgot. This was a custom-made chair I got from the Elders; no one has seen it before, except for Athena when I rested in her home. I couldn't exactly tell Evan where I got it. He'd question what the Elders were, then I'd tell him everything, then... then I'd be crazy, or he'd have information he could use against me.

"Um... I made it." I finally said, slightly lamely. He blinked in understanding.

"Oh, you have a maker mastery?" He asked. I nodded. Athena told me about maker mastery, the ability to make potions, armor, or accessories, and even break them down into useful materials. He frowned again.

"Hm, I've never heard of a maker skill that lets you make chairs, though." He mused. Arg. It was getting annoying to lie to him. Too bad I had to.

"It was a... an assignment for Athena. Yeah, she needed a new chair for her office. As a reward, she gave me a recipe to make one for myself." I half smiled, lying through my teeth. He eyed me for a moment, then nodded and shrugged.

"Sounds cool. Maybe she has more of those lying around, eh?" He smiled and winked. For some reason, that gave me a chill down my spine.

"Um, maybe. You'd have to ask her." I shrugged again, hoping Athena wouldn't give me away if he remembered to ask, and put my chair away. "Shall we?" I asked him. He smiled and nodded, then waved his hand toward the levels of ships.

"After you."

I couldn't help but utter a small gasp. He... he sounded just like... _NO, Mercedes, get a grip, _I angrily thought to myself. I couldn't afford to break down now, in front of this boy who was obviously not Freud. _Not even a little bit like him_, my brain scoffed. While Evan didn't notice my inner argument, he DID hear me gasp. He frowned and, as fast as my brain worked, dashed over to me and gripped my arms. I froze.

"Hey, Mercedes? You okay?" He asked, looking straight into my eyes. It put a chill in my spine again. Big and green and earnest. Once I regained my senses, my first instinct was to shake off the hands, which I did immediately. Next, I had to say I was okay. That took a little longer.

"...I'm fine. Just a little... shocked." I said slowly. His concerned look turned curious. It was funny how his facial expressions changed so quickly.

"Shocked? At what?" he asked. I hesitated. I couldn't exactly tell him the truth. He shouldn't know about Freud, but with my luck, he might just know of him anyway. Plus, it's known fact that telling someone they look like someone I knew would kinda creep them out. I had to settle for plan B: be witty.

"Well, you actually showed chivalry by wanting to let me go first. I didn't know you were capable of doing such a thing." I smiled teasingly. It took him a while, but he finally blinked and scowled at me.

"Har har, so very funny", he said in annoyance. Mir chose that moment to appear, having climbed the longer ladder to the platform. I was surprised it hadn't snapped under him.

_"Sorry it took me so long. The ladder snapped under me and I almost squished my wing in the fall" _He said. Hehe.

"Idiot, why didn't you just fly up here? Or teleport?" Evan rolled his eyes at the silly dragon. Mir puffed smoke in Evan's face.

_"Don't call me an idiot. I used up my teleport going up and down trying to help you to the ladder. Plus, I wanted to see if I could climb up here without using my wings"_

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Evan coughed.

Mir nodded in satisfaction, but there was a strange mischievous glint in his eyes as he looked briefly at me, then back at Evan, then again once more. Did he take a long time on purpose? I didn't ask, though. We all had our secrets, after all. Besides, I wasn't sure if Evan was oblivious to Mir's motives, or very aware of them. Once he stopped expelling the smoke from his lungs, he gave Mir once last dirty look before looking at me almost neutrally.

"Ladies first", he said matter-of-factly. I half smiled(which seemed to remind him of my witty remark earlier, because he shot me a scowl back), nodded, and started up the ladder to the Edelstein ship. Evan was right behind, and I heard Mir flap his wings slowly somewhere nearby. Once I gave the slip Athena gave me to the pilot and got on, I waited for Evan. He took out some money and handed it to the pilot.

"If ya wanna git on a separate ship, ya gotta wait 'till I take off with this here ship", the pilot told him, getting on board and starting the ship.

"W-wait, I'm getting on with her." he said, pointing toward me. The pilot stared at him like he was an idiot.

"Then hop on"

"Um, doesn't he have to pay? I mean, the slip I gave you, doesn't it only work for me?" I asked the pilot. He turned to me, shooting me a lessened version of the look he gave Evan.

"The slip you gave me states that you and yer party get a free ride to Edelstein. If he is part of yer party, he can get on board" I blinked, then hesitated as I looked back at Evan. I could tell he was all but holding his breath. I had a decision now. I could decide to go alone and, by the time the pilot got back and brought Evan with him to Edelstein, I'd be with the Resistance leader, having our meeting.

But I still didn't know where the HQ was. Plus, for some reason, I couldn't possibly leave him here. I was still convinced he had another reason for tagging along with me and my curiosity demanded I find out what.

Hm, for some reason, that reason felt like a lie. But I digress.

"Yes" I said, smiling a little at the boy and dragon, who smiled back at me. "They're with me."

**X-X-X**

Just like that, we were on our way to Edelstein.

The pilot smoothly ignored us as he whistled to himself and steered the mechanical flying ship. I leaned against the side, and felt the wind in my hair. Evan lounged on Mir, who was curled up with his head also hanging from the side. It was silent for a while, but again, Evan can't stand silence.

"Hey, thanks for not leaving us. It would suck for you to have to wait for me." He smiled. I smiled back, but noticed the nervous tint in his smile. He wasn't stupid, of course- he knew I would've gone on without him if I had chosen to.

"Your welcome. I still don't know where the HQ is, after all" I shrugged, smiling wryly. My answer made his face fall, though.

"Oh... right", he mumbled. I immediately felt guilty- why I did was beyond me. I almost never feel guilt, especially if I meant what I said or did what I thought was right. Just ask Aran.

"B-but I wouldn't have left you if I did know. We're... we're a team now, I guess" I stumbled, probably looking sheepish. He immediately perked up and nodded.

"Yep. We're a team and I hope we see this through to the end!", he said enthusiastically. I chuckled and smiled in relief. I don't know why, but I was glad to have made him happy again. We sat in silence for a long time, but he didn't fidget. He was actually comfortable with the silence. Or the whoosh of the wind filled his ears and satisfied him. Whichever.

Soon enough, though, the pilot docked and we got off, immediately coming face to face with what looked like a scientist or a doctor. She had glasses and wore a white lab coat, with a clipboard in front of her. She looked up as we came closer and she smiled.

"Hello there, Evan. Mir." she nodded to them both. They nodded and said hello back. She then turned to me. "You must be Mercedes. Athena sent me a notice that you were coming today" She shifted her clipboard to one hand to hold out the other to shake. "I'm Claudine" I smiled and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you. A-are you aware of my meeting?" I asked carefully. Evan turned to me.

"Mercedes, of course she is. She's-"

"Shush, Evan. Not here." Claudine said, wagging her finger at him like a stern mother, though she looked barely young enough to be one. "You should know better than to shout vital information in this town." Evan flushed in embarrassment and murmured an apology. Claudine nodded sternly.

"Now then, yes, I know of your meeting and am here to escort you. If you'll follow me." She turned without another word and walked out. Evan, Mir, and I swiftly followed. She didn't walk too quickly, though. She had her nose buried in her clipboard, flipping through it and muttering something I couldn't catch. I was quite surprised she managed to maneuver around people without looking up once or crashing. I carefully brushed my hair over my ears once I saw the many instances of Black Wings insignias, trying to look as normal as I could. Evan didn't seem to have any problem like that with Mir. Again, human ignorance is bliss. I looked at Evan, who had a strange type of smile on his face, like he knew something no one else did. It was true, in this case.

"Is she a doctor or something?" I asked him after a bit of silence.

"Hm? Oh, yes, she's Edelstein's only doctor." He answered. I blinked. I once saw on a map how Edelstein looked, and noted the population size.

"That's awful. She has to take care of everyone by herself?" I murmured. He nodded solemnly.

"Don't worry, she managed fairly well, and would be pretty rich if Edelstein didn't have such high taxes." He said evenly. I nodded and sighed, then waited till we were in an empty gap to ask another question.

"Can we trust her? Is she part of the Resistance?" He smiled that strange, taunting, 'I know something you don't know' smile again.

"You'll see." He sang. I eyed him wearyingly.

"Can I trust you?" I asked before I could stop myself. He blinked and looked at me in shock and a bit of hurt.

"...Of course, Mercedes. I'd never steer you wrong. I told you, I'm not a bad guy." He said, sounding genuinely insulted. I stared at him. Big, green, and earnest. I sighed and nodded.

"Okay." I finally managed to say. He nodded back and we both finally noticed that Claudia had stopped walking a few feet away and was waiting for us.

"Right through here, Mercedes. After you." she said, gesturing to what looked like a big sewage pipe. I stared at it, then at Claudine to see if she was serious. She looked serious, but then, she looked serious since I met her. I looked at Evan and he nodded encouragingly. I looked into the black abyss and frowned, a little cautious and maybe scared. And, well, disgusted. It was a sewage pipe, after all.

"Don't worry, I'll be right behind you." Evan suddenly said, looking at me very seriously. I hesitated, then nodded slowly. I looked around to see if anyone was watching, then got on my hands and knees to crawl into the pipe. It was surprisingly clean and short. Before I knew it, I was back on my feet, looking at an extraordinary sight in front of me. I saw a place so big, I wondered how it fit so well like this in Edelstein's underground. I saw so many people, I wondered how people didn't notice this place. I saw jaguars and mage powers that I have yet to see before and a man stomping around in a giant robot. I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped before turning, hand on a bowgun. It was only Evan, though.

Standing next to him, however, wasn't the stiff, serious Claudine I had met moments ago. In front of me stood a woman in black, wearing a top hat and carrying a cane, eyes outlined by a black mask. The only way I knew it was Claudine was the white coat laying behind her on the ground and the brown-and-gold cane was the same color as a wooden clipboard. She chuckled at my surprised look.

"I welcome you, Mercedes Bow gun Master, to the Resistance Headquarters"


	4. The Resistance

**Another day, another chapter, another set of notes.**

**1. I don't own anything from Maplestory. Go read ch. 1's notes for a full list of what exactly I don't own.**

**2. Since it's already the 5th chapter, I won't bother saying not to read further if you don't want to ruin the storyline anymore. If you're still reading, you either don't care or already got pretty far into said storylines.**

**End of notes.**

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><p><strong>The Resistance<strong>

The further I go into the headquarters, the more amazing it got. Which I thought was impossible after I set foot in it. But, well, what did I know of the impossible? I was preserved for thousands of years in ice and woke up to towns in random places and descendents of monsters. As far as the facts go, nothing is impossible. Doesn't make the Resistance HQ any less amazing. As far as I can tell, it's part underground and part in an abandoned building, its main entrance is a sewage tunnel (though I'm sure there are others used in emergency), and almost everyone in town is there.

I had briefly seen many people in town. A police woman, a costumed balloon vender, a few scattered Black Wings officers(whose eyes I avoided), a janitor etc. Now they all came in when they were sure no one saw them and wore their true Resistance colors. The vender in the bear costume took off an arm to reveal a mechanical arm, and introduced himself to me and Evan(who already knew who everyone was, of course, but pretended to be oblivious for my sake) as the Mechanic trainer, who taught adventurers to use a huge robot to fight in.

The police woman wore archer clothes and introduced herself as the Wild Hunter trainer, who trained crossbow-weilding archers and their jaguar companions. The janitor(which seems so cliche. It's always the janitor that has a secret identity, huh?) changed from janitor overalls into a stylish one with a hat and introduced himself as a trainer for battlemages, mages that fought a little closer than normal and don't exactly have the magical protection their all-magical counterparts have.

It was all a lot to take in. So many people training in secret with all new skills that I couldn't fathom seeing. At one moment, I thought I saw one of the jaguars roar out a blue beam that shattered a hole into a target straw dummy. I was sure my eyes were playing tricks on me till the jaguar's owner shouted "Again!" and the jaguar shot another beam at another straw dummy. ... I was slightly glad to be away from there. Processing all this information made my head hurt. Evan caught me rubbing my head as we headed to another section(yes, there are sections) of the HQ for our meeting with the ringleader/doctor, Claudine.

"You okay?" He asked me. His eyebrows were furrowed in worry. I nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just... a lot to process." I sighed a little. He nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, took me a while to take it in, too. Just relax and don't think about it too much. Remember, we're just here for a meeting with one person." I smiled a little at his reassurance.

"Right, yes, one person."

_"We'll be here for you every step of the way, Mercedes. Don't you worry."_ Mir suddenly said from my other side. I jumped a little- I didn't realize he was there.

"Thank you, Mir" I smiled gratefully. Mir seemed to smile as well. Evan whined on my other side.

"Heyyyy, what about me?" I looked at him. He was pouting a little. How strange.

"...what about you, Evan?" I half smiled playfully. It took him a second to get that I was teasing, but he eventually smiled a bit. He then raised an eyebrow expectantly and I sighed in exasperation.

"...Thank you too, Evan" I said. He perked up and nodded.

"Your welcome." He said with a proud undertone. Our teasing banter was interrupted when we heard Claudine clear her throat a few feet before us. She was waiting in front of a simple door, eying us, face unreadable.

"Our meeting will be in here, but Evan will have to wait out here with Mir. This is a private matter." She said plainly. Evan's face fell and he looked like he was going to argue, but Mir put a huge claw on his shoulder and nodded to Claudine.

_"Yes ma'am. We'll wait out here for your return."_

"... yeah, sure, whatever" Evan grumbled, disappointed. I nodded to them both and have them a nervous wave before walking ahead of Claudine into the room. It looked like a huge world meeting office of some sort. It was a huge room that had many flags and insignias from other towns. I didn't recognize all of them, of course, though they did have names like "Ariant", "Orbis", "Leafre", etc. I recognized the Victoria Island town flags and the Cygnus Knights insignia, however, as well as the Edelstein flag.

I didn't have a chance to gawk and read every town's name, though, for Claudine was waiting for me to take a seat. I complied and sat next to her seat at the head of the table. A glint of black caught my eye and I peeked toward the source. Hanging over the door was an omnious insignia. The Black Wings insignia.

I couldn't help but stare at it, wondering why the heck it was in this room, a union of probably great towns. Claudine seemed to read my mind, or my expression, for she chuckled and said, "It's strange, yes, but we keep it there to remind us what we're fighting against. Sometimes, our meetings of the hardships of every town takes a toll on our beliefs."

"Oh..." was all I could say. I knew the feeling- there were many friends of mine, fellow heros, that long ago wondered the same things. The thief hero, Phantom, for example. He already had a love and wondered why he fought when he could be spending time wooing her(or trying to steal the item she was protecting. You never know with thieves). When she died, though, he was reminded who he was dealing with and gladly joined the fight. I shook off the memory. Now was not the time to dwell on the past, I reminded myself. This is the present. Time for new alliances.

"So, you wish to discuss joining my cause." I started. She eyed me, once again with an unreadable face, and nodded.

"Yes. Empress Cygnus" I could see the strain of saying the name of the Empress on Claudine's face. "has told me of you, how you're one of the imprisoned-"

She paused when I held up a finger, looking toward the door. I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard something brush up against the door... I stood and quietly but swiftly went over to the door. Another shuffling sound. Yes... someone was eavesdropping. I wasn't worried that it was a Black Wings, of course. I was more worried of the oblivious ears of a certain dragon master. I made a fist and harshly banged it against the door.

BANG!

"AACK!" I heard Evan yell and fall back from the door.

_"Um... I think they heard you." _I heard Mir say.

"Shut up" I heard Evan growl.

"Don't make me come out there, Evan. You're lucky I had enough restraint to keep the door from flying off its hinges" I threatened in my nice-'n-dangerous voice. He was silent for a moment, probably debating whether to threaten back or run for his life, but finally, he just sighed.

"Fine, we'll go see if the trainers need our help".

_"Do you think they'll mind if I go to the Jaguar Catching place?" _I heard Mir ask distantly.

"Not after what happened last time, no", Evan said, even more distantly. I nodded in satisfaction and went back to my seat. Claudine was staring at me, eyebrows raised but her expression otherwise was unreadable, once again.

"Sorry about that. Please, continue." I urged. She slowly nodded,

"Yes... right, Empress Cygnus" Again, that look of disdain. "told me how you're one of the heroes that were imprisoned in ice so long ago as a result of cursing the Black Mage himself." I nodded.

"Yes, I am. I and my entire town was encased in ice for millennium." I said evenly. She nodded.

"You were freed with all your memories and powers worn away and limited a few weeks ago and managed to gain a little bit of it back as you wait and hope for your town to thaw and be free of it's curse."

"Mm hm..."

...Wait.

"'All my memories'?" I looked at her in confusion. "Would there be a reason for me not to have my memories?" She finally had a readable expression on her face now- surprise and uneasiness.

"Well, the other hero rumored to have escaped the ice" She began. Did she mean Aran? I frowned. "I haven't met personally, but I was told by some of my spies that he had amnesia when he was thawed out. Didn't have a clue of their past, which since their past was thousands of years ago, would take a miracle to gain back." She frowned and shrugged reassuringly. "However, he seems to be searching for clues as we speak, so I wouldn't worry about it."

I slumped slightly in my chair. Aran didn't have any memories, no clue of his past. He probably jogged some back after all this time, but there's no way to know that. For all I knew, he wouldn't recognize me if he saw me. Not a very pleasant thought. _Focus, Mercedes. You have a meeting now,_ I reminded myself. I cleared my throat and nodded to the worried Resistance leader. "I won't worry about it, then. I have my memories and I am glad for that."

"Right, that's very good indeed. Bottom line, the Cygnus Knights told me all about you and I wish to join you. We have a mutual hatred for what the Black Wings have done and their plans to resurrect the Black Mage. The Cygnus Knights are many, but so are the Resistance, and here at their home base, we have better understanding of their plans. We may even figure out why they know so much about you. You yourself even have experience fighting the Black Mage and his disciples. You could pass down your wisdom to our fighters. What do you say? Will you let us join in your fight?" She sighed, as if she had not exhaled in a long time, and patiently waited as I thought through her speech.

"Do you have any other allies besides the Cygnus Knights?" I asked her. She made a face.

"Calling the Cygnus Knights our allies... it's a bit of a stretch." She admitted. I tilted my head, waiting for her to explain. "We had a few... difficulties when we collided in the past. Things are strained between the Resistance and the Empress's Knights. We're not allied, per say. We just have come to terms that we are on the same side and must combine forces-" She sniffed. "-even if we don't like each other."

"Will this strain become a problem?" I asked, frowning in worry. She shook her head.

"We can handle ourselves, no worries." She said. I nodded in understanding.

"Any other allies, or semi-allies?" I asked. She thought for a moment before answering.

"A few adventurers around the world who have done tasks for us. Evan would be one of them, if you didn't already know. The Mushroom Kingdom was an ally, but they have their own problems to deal with at the moment." She said with a small shrug. I nodded. I've helped the Mushroom Kingdom on Athena's request, but it's likely that they're still in their little camp, trying to find a way past all of the enemy mushrooms that remain. "A few towns have joined our cause, as you can see, but they have limited armies themselves. Few people wish to fight at all. All together, we have a battalion, but we need all the help we can get." She eyed me as she said that. I nodded and smiled.

"Yes, I will gladly let you join me. I could use all the help I could get myself." I said confidently. She smiled.

"Wonderful. You won't regret it, Queen Mercedes." She stood and held out her hand to shake. I stood as well and answered her waiting hand.

"I have another question, though." I started, a question burning the back of my mind.

"Yes?" She looked at me curiously.

"...I-is Evan... What's Evan's story?" I murmured, feeling embarrassed for asking her that. She was silent for a moment, then chuckled.

"Ah, I wondered when you'd ask about him." I looked up at her. She was smiling, though her expression was once again unreadable. It was getting annoying.

"What do you mean?" I frowned, feeling my cheeks get warm.

"...Ah, nothing. Just felt you would ask. He isn't a likely traveling companion for an elf queen." She shrugged, not losing her smile.

"Well, he doesn't know I am a queen, or was trapped in ice, or anything as far as my name" I said smoothly.

"As expected. Only a chosen few could process how old you are and what you were thousands of years ago, let alone believe it. I myself couldn't believe it, but Empress Cygnus isn't one to kid, no matter how much of a fool she is." She said as an aside. I nodded and sighed.

"I expect that you won't tell me of his past or anything?" I said, not expecting a positive answer at all. Sure enough, her smile turned sad and she shook her head.

"No, it's not for me to say. That is something for him to tell you." I nodded.

"I understand."

"I'll tell you this, though- he isn't really a member of the Resistance. In fact, I doubt he knows what we're really fighting for." She said. I blinked in surprise.

"How does one not know of that? You'd have to be born under a rock or... or..." I grasped for the correct term.

"Be a child?" Claudine offered. I nodded in answer. "Evan was one of those people who never really had a future as one to fight battles out in the world. He came into the world of magic too early, in my opinion. Took on too much responsibility by raising a dragon."

"So, you know it's a dragon." I stated, still a little amused by the ignorance I have gotten so used to seeing.

"I'm sure that must come as a big surprise to you." She said, looking just as amused at I felt. We both chuckled a little, then stood- I half didn't realized we had sat down again- and started for the door.

"So anyway, I'm glad that we have joined you. I'll dispatch a few Resistance members to your town to help the Cygnus Knights there." She said as she opened the door.

"That would be helpful, thank you." I said, walking out and almost tripping. I stumbled to my feet and turned to see what tripped me. Right in the middle of the doorway sat Evan, looking at me a little... glumly.

"Hey. Done already?" He asked. I frowned. Was he eavesdropping again? What had he heard? I looked around.

"Where's Mir?"

"Helping the jaguars train. They don't need my help, so I came back here" He sighed. Ah. He was bored, then. Good ...I think.

"Best go get him. We're done here" I looked at Claudine, who managed to maneuver around Evan. "Thank you, Claudine. Please keep me posted." She smiled and nodded

"Of course. The exit is the way you came. If you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork to take care of." She shook my hand again, gave Evan a polite nod, and went in the opposite direction we began going in.

"So, how'd it go?" He asked.

"What, didn't hear everything?" I asked with a teasing smile. He blushed.

"Well, if I had gone in with you and stayed by your side like I promised, I wouldn't have had to eavesdrop" He said with that glum expression on his face again. I blinked. Hm, was that what he thought? Strange. I reached over and hesitently patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. It was just private things we had to discuss. My past is not for everyone's ears."

"In other words, you don't trust me enough to tell me about your past" He said. I frowned. I couldn't exactly say he was wrong, because he wasn't. I really didn't know him or trust him enough to tell him all about myself. He'd have to prove himself first. Plus, well, he'd think I was crazy. That's a big turn-off(so to speak) right there.

"I'll tell you someday, but we haven't known each other long enough to share stories. I mean, would you tell me about your entire past right this moment?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um... well, no, but-", he started.

"Someday, we'll tell each other everything. For now, lets see how things between us go. Okay?" I eyed him. He frowned, but nodded.

"Alright. I can wait, I guess." I nodded and smiled. He flashed a small smile back, before looking forward and frowning.

"H-hey! MIR! I TOLD YOU NOT TO PLAY 'CATCH' WITH THE JAGUARS!" He frantically yelled as he ran to his dragon, who was holding a yowling black jaguar in his mouth with his owner panicking and yelling for help. I snickered and sighed a little. I wasn't quite sure if what I promised Evan would be true. I can't picture us just sitting down and having a heart to heart, him talking about his past and I about mine, though his is much more recent. My past took place a thousand years ago, after all.

I worried how he would react, but part of me thought he'd handle it. For a boy, he was strong and understanding, dispite being young and therefore childish. Maybe he'd actually accept my past as the truth, just as Empress Cygnus and Claudine, and be impressed by it as well. I'd like to believe that right away, but I was still so unsure. Only time will tell, after all. I just hoped I had enough of it. If I was going to tell him anything about myself that hinted in any way toward my complicated past, he'd have to prove himself to be trustworthy. And I knew I'd have to prove myself to him as well.

When Evan finally got Mir to let go of the jaguar and apologized and paid the traumatized Wild Hunter, he waved me over to signal that we could go now. As expected, I complied and followed him out.


	5. An Awkward Silence

**Ack, such a late chapter. Notes below...**

**1. Sorry for taking so long. School was brutal. Though, because of the 4 day weekend, I'm going to try posting 2-3 chapters to make up for being late and probably not being able to update till next weekend after. As a result, this chapter will be sliiiightly short.**

**2. I don't own anything of Maple, of course. What I do own, though, is mine and mine only and shouldn't be stolen.**

**3. If it isn't already obvious, I am carefully removing any evidence in the story that suggests it's a game. So, you may see some more modern changes and such throughout the story that replace what is usually in the game. For example, instead of leveling and adding skill points to skills, you "get stronger" and all the skills that Mercedes and Evan get can be achieved at any time, but they have to practice and master it manually.**

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><p><strong>An Awkward Silence<strong>

Evan, Mir, and I finally managed to leave the Resistance HQ, after Mir's jaguar incident, and got a ride back to Victoria. During the ride, I realized we hit a snag.

...Now what?

I mean, he accompanied me to the HQ as he intended to get me to the meeting. Now, that was done, and he had no reason to continue tagging along. I mean, I had nothing more to do but wait until I get a message from home, or the Cygnus Knights or the newly-appointed Resistance. Who knows how long that will take? He had no reason to stay... and that made me sad I enjoyed the company of this boy, even if his presence made me paranoid. No matter what I tell him, I'm still on my guard, not trusting him and watching him closely. I was also curious of him, of course...

Obviously, I wondered how he got Mir. I suspect that Mir was a decedent of Afrien, if the talk of Afrien's egg way back when was really true. Whether it was Afrien or Freud, either one of them would hide the egg thoroughly. He couldn't have just stumbled upon it. Then again, it's been thousands of years. If my spell to seal my town had worn off, it's a possibility that whatever cloaked Mir's egg wore off too. I also wondered what he had heard though that door. He looked deep in thought and a bit bothered since we left. I COULD blame it on Mir's jaguar catching game, but Mir did it before, so it couldn't be THAT traumatizing. I was suddenly very aware of the fidgeting dragon master. The silence finally got to him. Heh.

"S-so... what's your plan now?" He finally managed to ask. My plan. Singular. I felt sad again, but smiled thoughtfully anyway.

"Hm... I guess go to talk to Athena" I quickly pulled out of my head. It was true, actually. She needed to give me some answers.

"Oh... and then what?" he asked, looking particularly curious.

"Hmm... wait for my next assignment, train a little", I shrugged. "Maybe ask around for problems to solve in Victoria" He frowned in confusion.

"Why stay in Vic?" I hesitated, thinking my answer through, and felt somewhat embarrassed for some reason when I finally answered, "I... haven't been outside of Victoria very much. I only made short visits to get items." Evan looked shocked.

"Really? Geez, how'd you manage to stay away from other continents so long and get stronger anyway? There are much stronger foes out there to fight" I nodded.

"I know, I just... didn't want to stray from Athena or my other sub-... friends... for too long. If they need me, I want to be close by to help." I frowned internally when I almost slipped up and said 'subjects', but thankfully, Evan didn't seem to notice. He was staring at me and slowly shaking his head.

"You can't hide yourself here forever. Victoria isn't a challenge for us anymore- it's time for bigger and better things", he said knowingly. Abruptly, he grabbed my hand and pulled us both to a stop. I froze, staring at his hand. What was he doing touching me?

"Please come with me to Orbis. I have some things I have to check on and I want to show you around and show you what you've been missing", he said, looking at me with a small smile, his eyes as big, green, and earnest as usual. looked up at him, probably with an icey look because he recoiled a little.

"Hm... fine, I suppose I can come with, but I want to see Athena first, if you don't mind." My voice sounded icey too. He smiled anyway.

"Right, of course. Athena, then Orbis. Good." he gave my hand a thankful squeeze.

"...Now would be a good time to let go of my hand before I flip you and break your wrist in the process." I said cooly and dangerously polite. He paled and his eyes widened, which was comical to see but also quite shocking(how can they get bigger?), and he dropped my hand and took a step back.

"Y-yes ma'am" He scrambled. Ma'am. I smirked. I haven't heard that in what seemed like forever. He seemed to realize what he said was slightly strange and formal, because he blushed as quickly as he paled and looked away.

"...sorry. It was instinct. Normally, people don't stop and look at me when I'm talking. I've gotten used to grabbing someone, and so has everyone I know" He looked rueful. "I forget I've only known you for a short while."

I frowned at that. He was already that used to being around me? That's strange...

Of course, I was skilled at hiding my feelings, so he wouldn't know that I still distrust him, but... did he have no sense of caution. He's known me for a few hours and already believed me to be a friend. He knows nothing of me and I nothing of him, yet he acts as thought we were once friends long ago. My gaze drifted off to Mir, who was watching us silently. Well, in a sense, we would've once been friends. If Mir was really the child of Afrien, that is.

"It's okay. I'm just not used to being touched so suddenly. I usually get some sort of warning signal." I finally told the increasingly flustered boy. He looked up and swiftly nodded.

"Right, sorry." He said sheepishly. We paused for a moment, debating what we should say next. At least, that's what I was doing. I have no clue of his thoughts.

"Alright, guys. Since we got that settled, lets go to Henesys" Mir said, making Evan jump. I wasn't surprised- Mir looked just as uncomfortable as I was. I smiled and nodded.

"Yes, to Henesys", I agreed. Evan only nodded in response. We started walking again.

**X-X-X**

So, we headed to Henesys.

It was a long walk, though. We didn't bother taking the taxi from Sleepywood. For one, it cost money that I couldn't afford to waste and that Evan barely had. Also, Sleepywood scares the crap out of me. It's filled with creatures that I've never seen and it shouldn't even exist. While that IS no different from all the other towns, in addition, Sleepywood was dark and it felt ominous that differed from any other place. So yeah.

Evan and I walked in semi-silence again. I can now tell when the silence became too much and was able to find a conversation topic before he had a seizure from his nervousness. It was hard to do so, but I managed it. At first, I asked him and Mir questions of the worlds outside of Victoria. They gladly complied, even Mir, though he has been very quiet.

It was slightly shocking. Even if they fulfill each other's personality gaps, Mir shouldn't be THIS quiet, and comfortable with it. It didn't seem right. How is it that Evan has been with Mir so long and still hasn't gotten used to silence. Counter-wise, how does Mir manage to keep his quietness while being with someone so chatty since he hatched? Or does he speak more through their mental connection?

It was amazing, simply. I didn't get it. Maybe someday I will, but now, I won't try. I have more important things to pay attention to. Like Evan and Mir's explanations of the world. It all sounds so... so fascinating! They haven't been everywhere, of course, but I still felt like I was talking to a professional traveler of some sort.

"Well, Orbis is pretty much a town on a rock on a floating cloud. It's filled with strange people, some fairies too, actually. It is based around a goddess of something, though I forgot what. It has a tower that leads to 2 places, the Aquarium and El Nath." _"It's also a central for travel. From Orbis, you can get ANYWHERE. Most younger adventurers only know of Orbis's traveling options, though there are more that we have discovered, as well as others."_

It pretty much went on like that. He told me about El Nath(the town buried under snow), Aquarium(a town completely underground), Ariant(a town in the barren desert), Ludibrium(a town made of toys... I don't get it, but it sounds colorful), etc.

I noted mentally that all these towns were on the flags that Claudine has in the Resistance HQ. Does that mean that those towns are currently supporting them? I hoped so... If their operation was that vast, that would make it all the more better for me to have backup against the Black Wings and their reason for being.

As I listened to Evan's explanations, with Mir's help and my never-ending questions, I noticed we were getting closer to Henesys. I began to plot what I should ask Athena when I see her. Well, first of all, how her meetings from today went. I'm sure she'll ask me first, and it's only polite to ask that of her as well. I also want to tell her to be sure that the Resistance has dispatched their people to my town.

I also planned to ask about Evan. The more I talk to him, the more I am convinced he has been in Henesys just as long as I have, maybe longer, and he has not heard of me, nor I of him. Plus, he knew Athena. Well, sure, everyone who has ever arrived in Henesys should know something as basic as who the bowman instructor is, but he seems to have more familiarity in his eyes and expression whenever I have mentioned her. I assume now that he has at least spoken to her. If he has, why hasn't she said anything? She remembered to tell me of Aran, but the duplicate dragon master Evan slipped her mind? Unlikely. Plus, an elven mind doesn't forget anything.

"...and Leafre has a bunch of pretty forests that have the weirdest creatures, but they're a little too powerful for me-", Evan had stopped his explanation and looked at my faraway look curiously. "You listening, Merc?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, just... yes" I scrambled(elegantly, as an elf should) swiftly, frowning at my own distracted mind. It wasn't nice to ignore a person who is talking to you, even if you don't know the person well.

"...Liar" He finally said, looking at me accusingly. My head snapped up to look at him and I scowled.

"You dare accuse me of lying? Do you even comprehend how insulting it is?" I snapped at him. His eyes narrowed in response to my tone and glare.

"I do, and I don't think you realize how insulting it is to talk to someone who is staring off into space." Touche. I made a face at him and humphed.

"I do realize that, and I'm sorry for that. I'm getting my head together for when I see Athena. I have many questions for her."

"Oh? Like what?", he asked with immediate curiosity taking over his previously irritated expression. Honestly, how did he do that?

"Um... like, how did her meetings go, and I plan to tell her about my alliance with the Resistance", I said, thinking through my words carefully.

"Ah. That it?" He asked. I frowned.

"No, there's more, but I'm not about to tell you. It's a private matter." He blinked, a hint of hurt passing his face before he pouted.

"Does that mean I have to stand outside the door again?"

"It means, if your body makes contact with the door, your body is going to look like a porcupine when I'm through with you", I smoothly threatened. He looked small for a moment before sighing and nodding.

"Alright, if that makes you happy"

"Go-..." I stared at him. 'If that made me happy'? Where did THAT come from? He noticed me ogling him and frowned, unconsciously turning red.

"What are you staring at me for?" He asked self-consciously. It took me a moment to shake my head and murmur 'nothing', then look forward and realize we were in Henesys. Once I realized this, I started to absentmindedly walk faster. So fast, in fact, that Evan jogged to keep up and Mir actually beat his wings with effort.

When we reached Athena, both of them were panting and I had barely broken a sweat. I looked to see if the light was on in the window and turned to the exhausted duo.

"Wait out here", I ordered. Evan automatically started to argue against my commanding tone, but I was already inside. I looked around with the frown. The lights were all pretty much on, but I didn't see Athena. Morever, the place was a mess. While Athena wasn't the tidiest person alive, she wouldn't keep something a mess. If she was looking for something(and I speak from experience), she would put it back where she found it if it didn't contain what she was looking for, even if she had to pull it back out again to double check. I eyed the mess. Something wasn't quite right...

My heart jumped when I heard a thump come from the backroom door ahead. It was ajar. I walked to it swiftly and cautiously. I put my ear to the crack. Shuffling and rustling from 2 different directions. I opened the door with my elbow, but maybe too enthusiastically, for it crashed into the wall next to me.

2 big burly figures suddenly stood up from looking through a few boxes with documents and looked straight at me. They had rodent faces and wore black uniforms, the insignia on their chests purple with an image of black wings. I uttered a small gasp under my breath. Black Wings henchmen, and pretty big ones. What were they doing here?

They growled at me and pulled out what looked like clubs with 4 spikes going around the bulky end, slowly approaching me. I pulled my bowguns from my sides and fired both, at least 4 arrows at each. They winced and staggered back, but when they focused, they just looked more angry. They began approaching me again, a little faster. Oh no... these must be more powerful than the ones I've fought a little more recently.

I turned and ran toward the door, which was nightmarishly far away, looking over my shoulder to shoot at the henchmen that were now chasing after me.

While I wasn't looking, one of them threw something that clipped my shoulder. I yelped and my feet tangled, making me trip and slide and making a bowgun fly out of my hand. I glared up at the monsters, one of them grinning, both of them getting closer. I gripped one of my bowguns and glanced around for the other. I couldn't see it. It must've skidded off under something.

I lifted a bowgun and shot at them, only able to fire 2 arrows at a time. Most of my more powerful skills don't work without both bowguns. I managed to keep them back long enough for me to stand. My shoulder stung, but I kept firing long enough for my other hand to draw some power and strength, emitting a blue glow, ready to push them back. Unfortunately, while I was able to keep them from coming close, I didn't do very much harm to them, so they kept advancing and I could even hear them laugh at me.

I glared at them, feeling panicked. I should've been able to draw more power by now, but I could feel it wasn't enough, and if I got that close, they could easily use that to their advantage. I needed enough power to finish them off right away, but that was impossible to do so quickly without both of my bowguns. I swallowed, taking a step back. This was a doomed effort and I should get out, but... if I just leave them, they'll come after me, or they'll keep looking and even attack Athena.

One of the henchmen threw what I now see is some sort of wing-shaped weapon, a throwing star that some thieves wield if I remember correctly, at me again. It clipped my calf, making me cry out as pain shot up my leg and made me sink to the ground. The henchmen took that as opportunity to charge at me to finish me off. They shouldn't have gotten so close.

Because the second I uttered my shameful pained cry, the door burst open and a dark blue blur came flying over my head and barreled at the henchmen. They both flew back and crash-landed just a few feet from the door they originated from. I blinked, frowning and wondering what the hell just happened when a figure jumped from the not-so-blurred dark blue blur and landed next to me, a small wand posed at the ready.

"Merc, you okay?", Evan asked, looking down at me in concern. I nodded slowly,

"Y-yes. H-how...?" He gave me a strange bitterly sheepish smile, like he was intending to look sorry but really wasn't.

"That darn ear of mine decided to make contact with the door when I sat against it." He said teasingly. I stared at him, then let out a small relieved chuckle. It was short lived, though, and overlapped by the growling of the Black Wings underlings. Evan focused on them and glared in determination.

"Just stay here, okay? Don't move" I blinked. Wow. Deja vu. He immediately raised his wand and sliced the air. It glowed along with a carving on Mir's head. His eyes also glowed and he let out a roar accompanied with fire. The henchmen lit up quickly and were too distracted by their fur catching fire to notice Mir gearing up for more continuous blasts.

Finally, Evan stopped slashing and instead raised his wand and then brought it down. It glowed a different color, I noticed. Instead of red, it now glowed yellow, as did Mir's eyes and tattoo. Mir opened his mouth and bolts of electricity shot out. They hit the Black Wings monsters directly and they froze and disappeared. Evan slowly relaxed. Mir's glowing dimmed into his regularity. Once I didn't have the fight to focus on, my pain became more obvious and I collapsed.


	6. Athena has some explaining to do

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory, but that apperently doesn't matter to a certain act that's being rumored to be passed...**

**As I mentioned in the disclaimer, there is an act on the internet that may be passed called SOPA, where they're going to block pretty much everything on the internet O-o This is completely stupid, because the internet is a necessary tool for everyone to use to communicate, look up information, etc AND, apperently, people can just look up the IP Address to a site to go on it anyway. **

**While I admire their goal(protect copyrights), this won't work. I now ask my loyal readers here the favor of spreading the word of your protest. This cannot happen, and if enough people say they don't want it to happen, then it won't. All in all, though it's up to the people choosing whether to do it or not, the voice of the people still matters.**

**Thank you and enjoy the chapter.**

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><p><strong>Athena has some explaining to do<strong>

When my eyes opened, the first thing I saw were my bowguns.

Both of them, hanging on a little hanger right next to my bed (or I assume it's a bed). I felt relief come over me when I saw them both. It meant I could use my full skills again. I sighed when I realized how useless that is for me right now. I knew what happened wasn't a dream. The dulled pain in my shoulder and leg were proof of the battle, and so were the all too vivid memories.

I slowly tried sitting up. When I leaned on my wounded arm, I let out a hiss, which resulted in a hand on my other shoulder pushing me down.

I looked over, expecting to see Evan. It would make sense that he was still around, so it was very surprising to see Athena instead, frowning in consern.

"Slowly there, my queen. You're safe, but you're still weak." she said, gently pushing me down. Weak. I smiled wryly at that.

"Alright, I suppose" I said, probably sounding bitter, as I laid back down. Athena nodded and her hand drifted down to grab mine.

"Does it still hurt? I patched your injuries up as best as I could, but the cuts are still pretty deep." I blinked. Oh, she had patched up my injuries? I looked over at my shoulder and saw that, not only was a stripped of my armor and wearing only the top and knee-high pants I usually wear underneath my armor, but also that there were bandages wrapped around the tip of my shoulder. Huh, indeed, she patched up my wounds. I looked back at her and smiled with reassurance at her worried expression.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be fine later." I said calmly. She slowly nodded and gave my hand a squeeze. She looked like she wanted to smile, but didn't seem very into it.

"I-I'm so sorry, my queen. Having to fight Black Wings all by yourself... I was just devastated when I heard. I was escorting Mrs. Ming Ming home at the time and probably didn't lock my door before I left again. Oh, it's all my fault. Sorry, so so sor-", she rambled, looking guilty with tears forming. I cut her off with a squeeze of the hand.

"Don't worry about it, child. You couldn't have known. None of this is your fault. I could've ran immediately but I chose to stay and try to fight them off. It was nobody's fault but my own", I said in my best soothing voice. I slowly saw her relax, but she was still frowning. "Now, Athena, how exactly have you heard about what happened?", I finally asked after a long silence. "I was knocked out and the monsters were gone."

"Evan told me", she said immediately, then blinked and turned red. "Er, yeah, some boy named Evan. He had defeated the monsters and was picking you up to put you somewhere safer to treat your wounds"

"Athena, I hope you know that I already know that you know Evan", I said, and was surprised that I was able to without stumbling, but I digress. She sighed.

"You do, huh? Well, should've seen it coming. Evan is impulsive enough to rush into danger, but wouldn't have the gall to pick up someone he didn't know."

"Mmm." I mused over that, wondering if that is really true. The boy didn't have any sense of caution, after all.

"So, I suppose you want to chew me out for not telling you about him, huh?" She murmured, looking down.

I eyed her, thinking about that. "No", I finally answered, "First, you will answers my questions. THEN, I'll happily chew you out."

**X-X-X**

Before I could interrogate my subordinate and friend, I needed some food. According to Athena, I've been passed out after my little run-in with the Black Wings minions for hours. My stomach rumbled and my throat itched. As Athena went to fix me some food, I tried to relax, but I was too high strung. Truthfully, I feared for Athena's answers to my questions. Irrationally, but still seriously feared for her answers. What if they were bad? What if they caught me by surprise? What if knowing put me and others in danger?

I thought over my questions with a frown. Questions of Evan, of course: why didn't Athena mention him before? Does she know of his story? Would she even tell me, or would she be like Claudine and say HE had to tell me. I also wanted to ask about the Black Wings rabbits. What did they want? They were obviously looking for something, and in fierce determination too.

My thought process was disturbed by the sound of Athena coming back, carrying a plate of sandwiches and a glass of water. I sat up to take them both carefully and she sat back in her seat next to my(actually her's) bed.

"Alright, my queen. Ask me anything", Athena huffed, straightening up. I mulled over how to respond, nibbling on a sandwich.

"First, Evan", I began. She nodded for me to continue when I hesitated a little too long. "Why didn't you mention him to me before? He has been in Henesys so many times, and I've visited you more than enough."

Athena looked down in slight shame. "I didn't tell you because I really didn't see the point to it. He wasn't a hero like Freud was. The fact that he has a dragon doesn't change that"

I sighed and nodded, "True, but it would've been pretty useful to know there was a mage out there who is bonded to the son of Afrien"

Her head jolted up at that in shock. "Son of Afrien? I-I didn't know Afrien had children."

"Well, where else would an Onyx dragon appear? Besides, I once overheard Afrien and Freud talk about Afrien protecting an egg."

Athena still hasn't gotten over her shock as she slowly shook her head. "I didn't consider that to be possible, milady. I'm sorry..."

"It's alright", I nodded to her and cleared my throat. "You should also keep in mind that I could use new adversaries in my battle to win against the Black Mage. I have the Resistance and Cygnus Knights, but I'll need more than that against the Black Mage and, equally, the Black Wings."

She nodded, looking serious. "Yes, right. I'm truly sorry, my queen. I wasn't thinking."

I half smiled and took a moment of silence to eat another sandwich. "What's his story?"

"...Who? Evan's?" Athena cocked her head and frowned when I nodded. "Yes, Evan."

"...Umm, well, I don't think it's my place to tell you about that. No offense, my queen, but I think Evan should tell you about that himself", she smiled apologetically.

I sighed, not surprised. I expected this, after all. "Alright, then. Now, tell me about those Black Wings minions"

She stiffened. "What about them?"

My eyebrow rose, "Well, do you know what they were after?"

She fidgeted and murmured, "I have some idea of what, but truthfully, I'm not entirely sure..."

I looked at her, waiting for her to explain. When she didn't, I asked "What's your theory?"

"Well... As a primary trainer, I get, record, and keep records on every adventurer that comes into Henesys. Even those who only get sent my way by other trainers", she slowly started.

I nodded, knowing this already. "And?"

She fidgeted nervously, "Th-that includes you, my queen. As well as Aran... and Evan..."

I stared at her, feeling and looking quite confused. "What do you mean?"

"She means they were after us", a male voice rang out. Athena and I both looked up to see Evan walking to us, carrying what seemed to be a folder in his hand with a scowl etched into his mouth.

I suddenly felt quite flustered, probably because I was in light clothes, not as revealing as undergarments would be but close enough. I pulled up the blankets to my neck. He didn't seem to notice.

Athena jumped up and made a face at him, "Evan, I told you to stay downstairs and clean up!"

"I DID clean up, and I found this" He held up the folder and tossed it onto my lap, the title facing Athena. She blinked and paled.

"W-where did you find it?", she stammered. He smirked with no humor.

"Found it lodged in the very back of a file cabinet. Judging by the mess in and around it, if Merc hadn't stopped them when she did, they would've found it."

Athena frowned in all seriousness. I was still so damned confused as I looked down at the file. "What is it?", I asked.

"That, Merc, is what the Black Wings have been after for a while now, I'm guessing", Evan said, looking at me seriously even though his eyes softened a tad.

I frowned and reached over to grab the file and looked at the title. My eyes widened and I looked inside.

There was a paper labeled "Aran" on the front, then another one labeled "Evan" and, lastly, her own name "Mercedes". In a file labeled "Heroes".

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><p><strong>Quick note, because this may be a tad confusing. Spoiler alert, though I tried my best to ignore it AND explain.<strong>

**This doesn't tie into the Mercedes or Evan storyline in the actual game. In the actual game, Mercedes information is leaked by an inside source who already knew her and Evan made himself known to the Black Wings himself. This simply gives the Black Wings bunnies a purpose for being in Athena's house. The real reason behind stealing it, however, will be revealed in a later chapter. For now, though, don't confuse this little discovery with something that actually happened and don't let it confuse you about future events in the story.**


	7. The City of Orbis: Cellions

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory. I do, however, own a Mercedes that I kick ass with XP**

**HA, witty disclaimer ftw~**

**Anyway, sorry if my update days are getting longer. Shit happens, unfortunately. Like homework, and writers block. *Sigh***

**Ah well, writer is now UNBLOCKED and ready for yet another installment of Mercedes and Evan~**

**Enjoy this chapter~**

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><p><strong>The City of Orbis: Cellions<strong>

It didn't take long for Athena to explain herself, thankfully. Apparently, because Athena forgot many things over the first century that she was a trainer, she made sure to submit everything into writing. Even though she has never forgotten about me, she made a file for me as well as Aran, though his page is small due to never meeting him before, and Evan. Evan and I listened to this confession silently. When she finished, a second of silence passed between the 3 of us before I spoke first.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?", I asked, voice unusually soft. Athena didn't look me in the face. Her head was bowed and her shoulders slumped in shame.

"I meant to, but you were so worried about the Black Wings knowing about you. I didn't want you to suspect me..." My eyebrow rose.

"And hiding this doesn't make you suspicious at all?" I heard Evan snort. I shot him a look before looking back at Athena.

"...You're right, of course. It's not my finest moment". She sighed, "I'm so sorry, Mercedes, Evan" Another second of silence.

"I forgive you because of our years of friendship, Athena, but please remember that I deserve to know this stuff. No sugarcoating", I said with a slightly hard look, though my voice was still soft. Athena slowly nodded. Another second of silence.

"Well, now that that awkwardness is over", Evan suddenly exclaimed- heh, of course, the pressure of speech gets to him so quickly- "How 'bout we head to Orbis?" Athena's head snapped up to glare at Evan.

"In this condition, you want her to travel across the world? Absolutely no-"

"Yes, we shall" Athena blinked and looked at me when I interrupted her and started to sit up.

"B-but... Mercedes, I-"

"Athena, don't worry about me" I smiled reassuringly but also secretly, "I'm a fast healer." She frowned for a moment, then let out a soft chuckle and nodded.

"Alright, I guess. I'll send someone from the Resistance or Cygnus Knights to Orbis so you can contact either when you need them." I shook my head.

"No need, my friend. I still have my little phone and you know how to reach me." She sighed in slight relief at that and nodded.

"Alright" She agreed. I nodded back at her and smiled as I slowly slipped out of bed. After a few stumbles and catches by Evan, I managed to stay upright on my bad leg and go to change into some of Athena's spare clothes. I chose a green archer dress, matching boots, and a matching hat with a feather in it. I came out to practice walking in the boots. For some reason, Evan stared at me with a strange look on his face which, when I looked back at him, changed into shock and embarrassment.

Once that was done, we said goodbye to Athena, warning her to be wary of those Black Wings goons, and caught up to Mir before he could freak any newcomers from Athena's place even more. Once that was done, we headed to the taxi. Apparently, though, I was weaker than I suspected. I could barely walk very far without stumbling or wincing or pain shooting at my shoulder when I moved my arm just slightly. I forced a smile for Evan and Mir, but I could tell neither of them were convinced. Evan was strangely quiet for a long moment, shooting looks at Mir every so often. The dragon looked lost in thought. Soon, we arrived in Sleepywood, as dark and creepy as ever, and were about walk halfway to the portal to the tree before Mir suddenly dove under my legs and swept me up onto his back.

I let out a surprised yelp and would've tumbled right off if I hadn't landed in the saddle. I blinked a few times and shook my head in shock before glaring at Evan, who was smirking up at me.

"What is the meaning of this, Evan? Put me down, Mir!" I yelled down at the dragon.

_"Hmm... Nope" _Mir retorted, sounding amused, and began flying forward as Evan continued walking. It took all I had to keep myself from shouting a string of insults and swears. A few managed to escape my lips, though.

"Dammit, let me out of this or I'll reign divine punishment on you both!" I growled. Evan sighed as he walked.

"Merc, you can barely stand without being in pain. Don't try to hide it, either", he said as I opened my mouth to protest. "I can see you flinch in pain every time you take a step. It's not exactly a reassuring sight, but I'm not going to take you back to Athena to get chewed out, so you will be riding Mir instead until you're better."

I frowned, not only because of his endearing words but because of the strange hesitation when he talked about his excuse for not taking me back to Athena. Must be my imagination, though.

"...Fine. I don't like it, but fine. I'll ride Mir for now, but since you need him to attack, I'll summon a friend of mine once we're in Orbis."

He looked back at me with a raised eyebrow, but didn't ask questions. So we continued on to the port and from a ship to Orbis with me being carted around on a dragon like some type of queen. ...Which I actually was. But I digress.

**X-X-X**

After a long time of riding in a huge, semi-empty ship, we finally made it to Orbis.

No amount of describing from Evan could've prepared me for the glory that is the REAL center of the Maple world. It was very open and light. The whole town seemed to be swallowed by the sky, for that was all I could see. I couldn't even make out a horizon in the distance. The town itself was alive, bustling with people and a few fairies.

Evan didn't let me gape, however. As soon as we got out of the station, he led Mir, who was still carting me around, off the platform and toward a gate leading out of town to the east. I saw people wave as we passed by, but Evan paid them no mind. I looked at him curiously. Why was he in such a hurry?

As soon as they were out of the city, he turned and gave me a faint smile. "Alright, so, I hope you don't mind but I have an assignment to do while we're here, but the monsters we're going to fight are very good targets." I nodded

"Alright, I suppose I can bide my time 'till you finish with your assignment. What are we fighting?" I asked. He didn't answer right away. He just smiled and beckoned Mir to follow him. He stopped at a ledge overlooking a huge, open gap that dropped down to a few platforms. The platforms seemed to have what looked like fat, poofy little creatures with fairy-like wings and little wands.

Why do many of the creatures nowadays look cute? Was it a natural tactic to lull someone into a false sense of security? What were they, anyway? I was about to ask when Mir half turned his head to look at me with one eye.

_"Those are Pixies, monster descendents of Fairies. They're a little useless, but they can use magic and used to wreak havoc on Orbis"_

"Who stopped them?", I asked, trying to look composed despite my surprise.

_"Various adventurers. It took many years, but the brain dead puff balls finally took a hint and kept to the outskirts of Orbis" _Mir snorted, a bit of smoke puffing out.

"Hm... are we fighting them?", I wondered out loud, looking at Evan, who was strangely still. He turned and half smiled at me.

"No, too easy. We're going to be fighting the monsters over through that portal there", he indicated which portal with his finger. Across from them on the other side of the gap was a ledge identical to the one they stood on.

I frowned, confused. "Um... how are we going to get there? I know Mir can fly, but I think he has a 1-person limit" I felt Mir shudder at the truth of that, but both he and Evan chuckled.

"Don't worry, he won't have to carry us both. Just watch." He gave me an arrogant look, like he was going to school me. He pulled out his wand and stood at the edge, then tapped at a cloud that was hovering a few ways away. The cloud lit up and the white color seemed to become solid. I noticed that all the clouds hovering with it, all of them hovering at different heights, began to glow and become solid as well, until they all formed a path to the next ledge. Evan stepped back and smiled in satisfaction, stashing his wand. Then, he jumped onto a cloud. Amazingly, it held his weight with ease.

"Alright, let's go" He told us, though I knew it was directed towards Mir, and he hopped onto the next cloud. Mir crouched and jumped onto the cloud Evan was just on. After a while of jumping from cloud to cloud, they made it onto the platform. Evan went to the last cloud once Mir jumped off of it and tapped it with his wand. The clouds glowed in turn again, but this time, they turned into their wispy form.

"So no monsters find their way back into Orbis", Evan explained to me. He led Mir once again through the portal. We came upon a particularly high area. It had many platforms and, on the highest 3, were portals leading elsewhere. The whole place was currently being overrun by...

"Kittens?" My eyebrows rose in amazement, letting Evan suddenly help me off of Mir's saddle.

"Huh? Oh, no, not kittens", Evan frowned, studying the cute yet weird creatures. "I suppose they look like kittens, but... No, these monsters are called Cellions, Grupins, and Lioners", he explained, pointing to a red-colored kitten, then a purple-colored one, then a yellow.

"Hm. So, we're going to be fighting them?", I asked, though frowning at myself for how painfully obvious the question was.

"Uh huh. I need their tails for my assignment", he pulled out his wand again. "Do you want to stay here and fight them all or go through the portals-", he nodded to the 3 portals up high, "-and fight each type separately?" I considered that, pulling out my bowguns while wincing because of my shoulder and newly-pressured leg.

"Hmm... if they are all the same in strength, I suppose we can stay here." I said indifferently. Evan nodded, slight worry flickering in his eyes before he smiled with determination. Without delay, he jumped into action, Mir at his heels and already glowing. I watched them fight for a moment. Evan's motions were strong and sure despite his clearly-boyish appearance. They were also strangely... graceful.

I shook my head to clear it. _What? Graceful? Seriously? Mercedes, honestly, what are you thinking, _I asked of myself.

Luckily, I was able to snap out of it long enough to jump into action. The little colorful kitties were so startled when I suddenly jumped in front of them and began shooting my arrows in bursts of green light and waves. I killed a whole group in a few continuous shots, one of them dying with only 3 fatal hits. The kitties nearby noticed and started to run at me, a motion I complied with many more shots of everlasting arrows.

I jumped and flipped from platform to platform, killing adorable kitties left and right, squeaks of death echoing through the area from not only my kills, but also the kills of the Dragonmaster fighting nearby. My moves were so quick and lithe, my fighting ruthless and graceful. In the back of my head, I hoped Evan was watching.

...

Again, what? Why did I hope he was watching? What did it matter? I stopped on a small and empty platform to catch my breath and cast elven spells of strength and protection on myself, taking that opportunity to see how Evan was doing. He was currently standing with Mir among a pile of loot he got from the lifeless bodies of the kitties. He picked out some money as well as what looked like their tails.

Hm. That must be what he needed for his assignment.

I stretched and rested there for a bit before jumping back into action, killing more Cellions, Grupins, and Lioners as they resurrected. I had to pause a few time to shake my head and prevent myself from doing unnecessary flips and tricks in order to impress the hopefully-watching Evan.

Because I shouldn't be trying to impress him. The desire confused me greatly. It was probably my elven pride, or the fact that he looked graceful himself a moment ago when I saw him fight. That had to be the reason. What other reason could there be?

"Hey! Merc!", Evan suddenly called from somewhere behind me. I killed the Lioner- or was it a Grupin?- I was currently fighting and looked back to see Evan standing by the portal. I jumped over all the other kittens and dashed toward him with unnecessary flexibility and grace. I frowned at myself for that. If Evan noticed, he didn't show it. He just smiled at me in triumph

"we're done here. Now we're gonna go to the Tower and turn these tails in." I nodded, then tilted my head.

"What are they going to be used for anyway?"

"Um... No idea. I was just asked to get them", he answered, looking away. I could tell he was lying, but I just said "alright" with a small nod and went through the portal. He followed close behind.


	8. The City of Orbis: The Tower

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory, but I now own a ~awesome~ (Hetalia) bandana ^^***

**Alright, so the last chapter wasn't as long as I had hoped. I didn't want to squeeze everything in forcibly, so this is another part of the Orbis adventure. Also, be prepared to see a few changes to earlier chapters. Some things taken out, some added, some reworded.**

**A reviewer (you know who you are) asked once if I will do an Evan PoV. Heh, you guys, I have sooo much planned for this fic, you don't even know ^^. Evan will get his chance to speak, yes, as will other main characters I plan to add. For example, as most of you guessed, I will be including Aran. However, that won't happen for a bit. There's a time and place for everything and, right now, Mercedes has the full spotlight. Evan will get it soon, no worries.**

**Note: I'm guessing about Mercedes and Sylvidia's past. All I know at the moment is that they were comrades before the Black Mage battle, so I made up a bit about their past together.**

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><p><strong>The City of Orbis: The Tower<strong>

Evan went in front of me to light up the cloud path and started to hoist me onto Mir, but he paused.

"What?" I tilted my head.

"You look... better", he commented, eying my straight leg and calmed shoulder and lack of wincing. I smiled bitterly.

"That's because of the magic I cast upon myself. It gives me more power to fight and withstand wounds."

"Ah. That sounds pretty handy. When does it wear off?", he asked. I frowned as I thought back to when I had cast it.

"Um, a few minutes" I finally said. He nodded and began to help me up onto Mir again when I suddenly remembered what I said before we got onto the Orbis ship.

"Oh! Wait, you don't have to have Mir carry me anymore", I stepped away from his offered hands and pulled out my phone to dial a number.

_"It's no trouble for me at all, really"_ Mir laminated.

"Who're you calling?", Evan cocked his head curiously and a little disappointed in my rejecting his offer.

"A friend of mine. She'll gladly take over for Mir and carry me when my wounds act up", I answered, phone to my ear. It rang a few moments, then-

**"Hello?"**

"Hi, Danika?"

**"Queen Mercedes? Hello! How've you been? We heard the news from the Cygnus Knights that you recruted the Resistance and we heard from Athena that you've been attacked again! Are you okay?"**

"Yes, Danika, I'm fine. Just a bit sore. I'll be up and about in no time"

**"Ah, that's good. So, is there a reason why you called?"**

"Yes. Can you please get Sylvidia and tell her to come to Orbis?"

**"Orbis? Why do you need Sylvidia in Orbis?"**

"Well, my injuries don't allow me to move around very quickly- oh, don't fret, it's nothing serious- and I promised a friend of mine who has been helping me move around that I'd allow him a break and call up my friend Sylvidia to help me."

It was silent on the other end, then "**Yes, my queen. I'll tell her"**

"Good. How are things going, by the way?"

**"No attacks so far, Your Highness. Everything has been peaceful. It's a little lonely, though, and sad considering the ice everyone in town is trapped in."**

I sighed solemnly, "Yeah, but don't worry. I'm getting stronger and stronger and, soon, the curse will be lifted."

**"We can only hope"**

"Gosh, Danika, way to have confidence in me", I teased.

**"I-I do! Y-your Highness, I'm sorry if it seemed otherwise, b-but I have the utmost confidence in y-"**

"Danika, calm down! I was just teasing! I have no doubt that you do."

**"O-oh. Okay. Sorry."**

"It's okay. I best be off, Danika. Tell Sylvidia to meet me in town by the Health Shop"

**"Yes, Your Highness. I'll tell her. Goodbye, milady"**

"Good bye", I snapped my phone shut and stashed it as I walked back (just now noticing that I had paced away) the slightly impatient-looking Evan and Mir. As soon as I was close, Mir ducked underneath me to carry me on his back. I yelped and cursed from surprise, but the pain was returning anyway so I didn't object.

We swiftly bounced on clouds and went back into town.

**X-X-X**

We didn't wait long, surprisingly.

Once we were back in town, we immediately went to wait for Sylvidia by the Health Shop. Evan was slightly... fidgety, though, so I sent him to buy some potions. Mir stayed outside with me, openly curious about the friend I had invited.

Just because I enjoy teasing them both, I didn't tell them anything. If Mir or Evan asked what my friend looked like, if it's a girl or boy (though, they know it's clearly a girl), and how I know her, I say "you'll see" or "not saying yet" or "be patient and stop tugging my sleeve, Mir"

Of course, I'm not only keeping quiet for teasing purposes. I can't answer all their questions, for it'll reveal too much about myself. I'm just slightly letting my inner self out, yes, but Sylvidia goes all the way back to when I was younger, before I was even considered for fighting the Black Mage. The elves and the unicorns had a long history together and each elven teenager would have one to raise as to continue the bond. I got mine earlier, as the princess at the time.

If I told them how I know her, they'd know too much. This, I cannot allow.

As Mir kept pestering me for some information, I heard a distant rustle of wings and hooves on air. I turned to see my friend approaching. I smiled, stood, and walked to meet her halfway and to give her a hug, slightly difficult since she was floating.

"Sylvidia. Welcome", I greeted my childhood friend once I let her go. She sank to the ground, folding her feathery wings, and tossed her head.

_**Hello, Mercedes. Just where have you been running off to?**_

"Ah, gaining allies and getting stronger. You?"

_**Lounging around back at home, bored until Danika told me you needed me. Something about unjuries?, **_she cast a worried glance at me. I shrugged, wincing a bit when that hurt my shoulder.

"It's getting better, but I'm still sore. Did you hear about the ambush at Athena's?" Sylv snorted scornfully.

_**Mercedes, that was a confidential message for the elders by Athena that was to be kept secret from everyone else to prevent panic**_

"So you heard every word?", I smirked.

_**Oh, most definitely.  
><strong>_

I snickered and petted her nose before hooking a finger on her reigns. "Come meet my friends. They'll be traveling with us"

Sylv nodded and followed as I led her slowly(since I was still injured) up to the Health Shop. Evan still hadn't come out, so only Mir was there. The minute Sylv saw that I was leading her towards the expectant dragon, she whinnied and tried to retreat swiftly, but I held onto her and frowned.

"Sylv! What's wrong? Calm down!"

_**No! D-dragon! Big, fire-breathing dragon! **_she squeaked, still trying to tug away.

"Calm yourself! He won't hurt you!" I tried petting her soothingly with one hand while the other kept a tight grip on her reigns.

Sylv stared at me with freaked-out eyes. _**Merc, It was hard enough for me to tolerate the mountain of a dragon you last befriended. Do you know what dragons did with my kind? We were their after dinner finger foods! I refuse to be a snack to a dragon, much less a- a hatchling!**_

"Sylv, you're overreacting. Yes, your kind and dragons have a horrible past, but I assure you, this one is trained and won't eat you"

Her breathing was slowly starting to calm and she eyed me critically. _**Promise?**_

"Cross my heart", I smiled reassuringly.

She hesitated for a moment, then ruefully agreed and let me pull her closer. While I was calming down my friend, Evan had apparently come out and was stashing potions into Mir's saddle.

"Hello again. Evan, Mir, I'd like for you to meet Sylvidia. She'll be replacing Mir in carrying me and my stuff around", I said.

Evan turned to look at Sylv and his eyes immediately widened. For a long time, he appeared to be at a loss for words.

Mir, also surprised, hasn't as silent. _"Nice to meet you, Sylvidia. I'm Mir. I can tell we'll be great friends."_

Sylv stared at him with huge eyes. I could feel her shaking. _**"U-uh, y-yes, I'm sure we w-will."**_

Mir looked delighted, not noticing Sylv's clear terror. Evan chose that moment to snap out of his moment of gawking and cleared his throat.

"Hello Sylvidia. I'm Evan. It's nice to meet you."

Sylv calmed enough to look at Evan and nod her head. _**"Nice to meet you, Evan."**_

After a short pause, I asked Evan, "So, where are we going now?"

He blinked, as though shocked by the question, and answered, "Um, the Tower. I have to turn in these tails to the hermit that lives there."

I frowned. "A hermit? Kind of a strange type of person to request a bunch of cat tails"

Evan simply shrugged and mounted Mir. I followed his example and mounted Sylv. Both pets rose off the ground and Mir led us to the farthest corner of Orbis to what looked like a tower top, a big arch doorway leading to a drop to a portal at the base of a huge statue of a woman.

"Who's that?", I wondered as Sylv floated down to the portal.

Evan looked at the statue and shrugged, "The goddess of this tower, I think. You'll see statues of her in many places"

I slowly nodded and disappeared after Evan into the portal.

**X-X-X**

After a long while of flying down lower and lower into the tower, I saw that it soon started looking older. Bricks looked dirtier and more broken, monsters a little rustier, etc. Evan told me that it was because the people of Orbis can't get very far down the tower on a whim to clean it or restore it because of the floating mechanisms that occupy it. However, it got cleaner and better deeper into the tower because the people of El Nath could restore the bottom half. Unfortunately, we weren't going that low.

Once we got just about halfway down, we came upon what looked like a sewage hole. Evan stopped us there and dismounted, ordering me to stay out here. Naturally, I huffed. After all, no one tells ME what to do.

"Why can't I go in, exactly?"

"Because it's a private meeting, not to mention my quest", he raised an eyebrow at me.

I frowned. He had a point. How annoying.

Plus, I'd be a hypocrite if I told him this was unfair. I kept him outside during my meetings with Claudine and what would've been a meeting with Athena, after all.

So I had to ruefully agree and leaned against Sylv, who was laying down as far from the equally relaxing Mir as possible.

It was a long wait. All was quiet aside from our breathing and the monsters above and below us. I was starting to drift off, warm when Sylv draped her wing over me. I had to wake myself up as I wondered what was taking Evan so long. I slowly stood and headed for the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mir noticing where I was going and shaking his head. I paid no mind and went in.

It was dark except for a single lantern. Evan was standing there, whispering to a dirty man dressed in ragged clothing. He looked like a worn hiker, leaning on a stick and a beard as long as my own hair. The man was making something out of what I saw was the Cellion tails. I squinted my eyes to see what it was, but the light was way too dim. It didn't take long for the man to finish, thankfully, and he handed Evan the finished item.

It looked like... a bit of rope. I blinked. Rope? What did Evan need rope for? And made of monster tails to boot. The man whispered something to Evan, a question I couldn't make out. Evan shrugged and whispered back something I couldn't make out, either. I stiffened. Very suspicious.

Evan looked at the rope and nodded in satisfaction as he stashed it. He thanked the man and turned to leave. He paused, however, when he saw me standing there with an unreadable face.

"Merc", he blinked in shock, then frowned. "I thought you were supposed to wait outside" he said accusingly. I shrugged indifferently, ignoring the pain in my shoulder.

"I came to ask what was taking so long. Sylv had already fallen asleep and I almost did as well." I could see his cheeks turn pink and he frowned sheepishly.

"Ah, sorry for taking so long. Things were going... sluggishly" He admitted. I nodded once in acknowledgment.

"It's fine", I said plainly. He looked at me in silence for a long moment before nodding as well.

"Alright. Shall we?" He slunk past me before I answered, so I followed him silently. We came out to find Sylv and Mir crouched and ready for us to mount. We did so and rode back up the tower in silence.


	9. The City of Orbis: El Nath

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**Ack, sorry guys! Very late update. School and my other fic caused, not only a long wait, but also a bit of a writers block ^^; Back now, thankfully.**

**BTW, Due to managing 2 (fantastic) fics at once, I'll be updating both at least once a week. Expect updates on weekends at the most, but inspiration can strike anytime, so I might even update mid-week or something.**

**Not likely, but possible.**

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><p><strong>The City of Orbis: El Nath<strong>

Evan was a suspicious character. I knew this before I ever set off of this little adventure of ours. Just his presence sparked so many questions. This curiosity made me want to accompany him further, even if that display back there was frightening. I don't scare easily, really. Not anymore. I've seen it all, experienced more than anyone, and faced my fears when I was still in my own time. Being frozen in ice hasn't changed that one bit.

However, seeing Evan make such a black market transaction? For some reason, that scared me a little more than it should've. Rope made from monster parts isn't commonly asked for. At least, it wasn't in my time. Who knows about now, but it was still weird. Plus, he had tried to hide it. I'm sure he knew I had seen everything, and I could tell this made him uneasy.

When we made it back to Orbis, Evan was strangely quiet. He didn't fidget and try to make conversation with me. I could see he was talking to Mir, though, since Mir was making different faces for no visible reason. I simply stayed silent and rested against Sylv's neck as she followed yet kept her distance from Mir.

We stopped in town by a storage place. Evan went to talk to the lady in charge while I stayed on my ride and thought hard about what just happened. What was Evan whispering about back there? What question had the hermit asked him? Was it about the use of the rope? Did Evan know what his employer needed the rope for? I wish I could ask him.

I couldn't ask him, though. If I asked him, he'd feel cornered and would get angry and defensive. Then, I'd never get anything out of him. Plus, it would make him trust me less and, despite the little trust I have for him as well, I still need his. Why? I have no idea. Probably so he can answer my questions. ...Like who he is working for. I sighed, a little tired. This has been a long day. It feels like several.

Eventually, Evan returned but didn't mount Mir. He instead led the dragon and my ride a few ways away until we were in the middle of the city. He stopped when we saw a hooded figure pacing a little further ahead.

He had Mir and Sylv lay down and told us to stay put. He then began walking to the hooded person. Slightly alarmed, I jumped off, ignored the pain in my leg, and ran over to grab Evan's wrist. He blinked and turned to look at me in shock.

"Merc? What's up?" he asked. I hesitated for a moment before frowning.

"I just wanted to know what you're going to do now." I couldn't help but eye the suspicious person, who had stopped pacing and was now looking at us. Evan followed my gaze and nodded in understanding, chuckling once under his breath.

"Merc, don't worry, that's just the guy that gave me my assignment."

"I thought the hermit did that." I wondered out loud. He frowned and nodded slowly.

"Well, yes, he gave me an assignment to get supplies he needs in exchange for an item that this man -" He indicated the hooded figure. "-needs."

"Ah." I nodded in understanding, but continued to eye the hooded man suspiciously.

"It'll be fine, Merc. I'll give him the stuff, then we'll probably head elsewhere." Evan smiled a little, patting my hand. I only now realized I was still holding his wrist. I quickly let go of his arm and folded my hands behind my back.

"Alright. I hope you'll exercise caution, though. You haven't been doing that very well, as far as I could see." I smiled to myself at how honest that sounded. He heard the truth in my words as well. He frowned.

"Yes ma'am, I'll be on my guard." He said, sounding a little sarcastic. We both turned and walked in opposite directions, I to the dragon and unicorn waiting for me and Evan and Evan to the mysterious figure. I mounted Sylv, who was looking at me strangely.

_What? _I asked her mentally.

_**Kind of strange, you being so worried for someone else. Even if you do have that kindhearted nature, Freud and Aran used to never get that type of attention from you. **_She turned her head to raise an eyebrow at me questionibly. I frowned.

_Well, they were able to take care of themselves. Evan still seems new at this and, really, he has no sense of caution since I've known him. Him being friends with me is practically proof._

_**If you say so, but I think there may be more to this... unusual worry you have for the boy. Ulterior feelings, perhaps? **_She eyed me. My brow furrowed and I poked her neck.

_Don't be silly. I just met him recently, Sylv. Any feelings I have for Evan are more exasperated and curious than anything else. _I could feel Sylv rustle her wings in an attempt to shrug.

_**If you say so. I HOPE you don't wed the boy or anything. Then I'd never be rid of that dragon.**_ She shuddered. I rolled my eyes and decided not to answer that. Sylv was always pretty strange. That must be why I'm such good friends with her; normal friends are boring.

I watched as Evan discussed something with the hooded person. They exchanged items, though I only saw the rope, and the man told Evan something that made his shoulders slump. After a long while, Evan walked back to us while the hooded man disappeared somewhere. I shuddered involuntarily.

"Alright, let's go." Evan mounted Mir.

"Good, we're leaving already." I couldn't help but smile a little, happy to be rid of the unknown person and to be leaving elsewhere once again. "Where to now?"

"El Nath." Evan sighed as he said it. Mir himself seemed to huff out a sigh, a bit of smoke puffing out that scared Sylv a tad. I tilted my head curiously at this reaction.

"El Nath... isn't that the wintery town?" I tried to recall.

"Yep, that's the one" Evan nodded.

"What's wrong with it? Too cold? Too far?"

Evan blinked as I bombed him with questions, but recovered and shook his head. "No, the cold isn't the problem. I came prepared for the cold, though I'm not sure about you..." He eyed me a little before continuing. "It's not far, either. It's connected to Orbis directly."

"Oh, good." I smiled, though furrowed my brow at his comment on my attire. "Where is it?"

"...down the tower."

I felt my shoulders drop. "We were just there, though..."

He sighed. "Yep. We gotta go all the way down again."

I couldn't help but sigh as well. The trip down the tower was easier than the trip back up, but it was still a little annoying to run into those little droids floating around, and we're even going all the way down, where who knows what monsters there are. Unfortunetly, we had no choice. His new assignment took place there, and he wanted me to see some of the monsters in El Nath as well.

So we went back to the tower.

...Sigh.

**X-X-X**

The trip down the tower the second time was sluggish. At this point, neither Mir nor Sylv wanted to fly down ladders or dodge monsters. Neither Evan nor I wanted to fight them off. At some point, we stopped halfway down the tower, past the hermit's hole, and relaxed on an empty ledge.

"This sucks." Evan sighed, sitting back against Mir's side. He lazily swung his wand around. Meanwhile, I was sitting at the edge of the ledge next to Sylv, stringing and restringing my bowguns out of boredom.

"Quite. Isn't there a quicker way down?" I laminated, shooting an arrow at an oblivious blue robot monster floating just below me.

Evan frowned and cleared his throat. "Well... there is, but we don't have the resources to get it. Plus, we'd have to go back to the hermit and then all the way back up the tower."

"Humph." I huffed, watching the blue robot freak out and fire randomly at things when it couldn't find the source of the arrows.

I don't know how long we sat in silence, but as expected, Evan broke it swiftly enough.

"S-so... what do you think of Orbis so far?"

I turned on my bottom to face him, bringing my knees up to my chest and putting my bowguns aside. "Orbis is very interesting so far. I recall being here once before, or a place like this... I'm amazed at how much more different it is. It's a little bigger, and old but grand nonetheless. The people themselves are interesting as well, and... and..." I trailed off when I noticed Evan's eyes were unfocused, looking in my direction, but not AT me.

"Aaaand you're not listening." I grimaced bitterly, feeling a little insulted. Evan blinked at that and frowned.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. It's just... I can't get over how weird your weapons look." He said, eying the bowguns at my sides. It was my turn to blink.

"... I don't know if I should be insulted or intrigued." I admitted, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled once.

"Well, I've just never seen those types of bows before. They remind me of pirate guns, except with arrows." He looked sincerely interested. I couldn't help but smirk wryly. Pirate guns with arrows. That's EXACTLY what they were, really.

"They're called dual bowguns. My town was the only one to ever produce them. They work much like... pirate guns with arrows." I explained, using his term for them.

He nodded slowly and tilted his head. "Where did you live?" I frowned, wondering how to answer that. Really, this was getting dangerously close to personal.

"Um... outskirts of Ellinia." I finally said, not looking at him. I could feel his gaze, though.

"I didn't know there was a town there..." He mused curiously. My frown deepened and I stood, looking down the tower.

"We should get going again, else it will be nightfall by the time we reach El Nath." I said blatantly, still not looking at him as I mounted Sylv. I caught him nodding out of the corner of my eye as he, too, mounted Mir. With that, we began descending once again.

After a few floors, we hit one that was completely covered in snow. I shivered, the cold hitting me hard and making me very aware of my thin armor and short sleeves. Athena, it seems, doesn't go to cold places too often. I stopped shuddering when Evan surprised me, suddenly holding out the blue cloak he had been wearing. Underneath, I could see he was wearing a thin mage robe with sleeves to his elbows.

I frowned at the sight, but Evan shook his head before I could protest. "It only gets colder from here. You need this way more than I do." I wanted to argue, but something in Evan's expression told me I wouldn't be able to sway him from his decision. I sighed and took the cloak, wrapping it around myself. It was still warm and smelled a little like a forest. Pine, maybe? A tree of some sort.

We began descending further, Mir and Sylv going faster urgently once they felt that Evan was indeed correct- it only got colder. Even with the cloak, I shuddered from the increasing frost. Evan looked worse, his teeth audible even from here. Our rides succeeded in going much faster despite the cute furballs we found in the snowy section of the tower for, after a while, they made it outside the tower.

The landscape was beautiful, or would be if it weren't for the annoying penguins and the snow-covered rocks, which looked sickly grey and clashed with the pretty glittering blanket of snow. I would've been able to enjoy it further if I wasn't freezing my limbs off. Mir and Sylv dashed at top speed across the land to the next portal leading into town. Once we were there, a sense of relief crashed down upon me and I blacked out.

**X-X-X**

I didn't know how long I was out, but it was long enough for me to be elsewhere. The first thing I noticed was that I was warmer now. I felt Evan's cloak still on my shoulders. The next thing I noticed was a change in scenery. I was now in a little shop, it seemed. I could see the snow falling out the nearest window.

I slowly sat up, immediately feeling some feathers slide down me. I looked over to see Sylv's worried expression. She must've been covering me with her wings.

"Are you okay, Merc? You've been out for a while now." She observed me, looking for any injuries or sicknesses. I smiled in reassurance.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Must've been the cold that made me pass out. I'm alright now." I assured her, petting her muzzle when she sighed in relief. I blinked suddenly when I remembered Evan and Mir and looked around. It didn't take long to find them. Mir was curled up against the wall nearby, just under a window. Evan was laying down on his back, looking at me with the same worry Sylv had.

"Hey. Glad you're awake." He said slowly after a moment. I gave him a nod, then had to pause because the sudden movement made me a little dizzy.

"Glad to be awake. How long was I out? Where are we?" I suddenly asked. Evan must've expected me to ask, because he didn't blink in surprise or anything.

"You've been out for a good 2 hours. It took a while to get you warmed up, because we still had to find a place for all of us to rest when you passed out. We're in the general store, the only building that will allow Sylv and Mir in."

I frowned, a little disturbed by the amount of time that had passed. A little cold did that to me? I felt so ashamed and weak. Evan seemed to sense this, because he gave me a very serious look. "Merc, you haven't been around the cold very much and you are wearing very poor armor for these conditions. Anyone would've passed out under the strain your body was in."

Wow, he looked so endearing. I found myself nodding, unable to look away from his eyes. Big and green and earnest...

"And that's exactly why we're here- to buy you some new clothes." He suddenly continued, snapping me out of my daze. I blinked and nodded slowly.

"That's good. Is the shop keeper here?" I glanced around. As if on cue, a woman with a kind face and wearing a scarf came out of what I assume was the back room, carrying some folded clothes and a pair of boots. She handed them to me, then carefully led me to the bathroom to change out of my clothes, which were actually still a little damp.

After a while, I came out in a thicker purple bowman outfit and matching boots, which had little hard hooks at the sole. The shopkeep explained they helped walk around the ice without sliding. I noticed she had given Evan the same type of boots, as well as some new clothes. I paid her, despite her protests, and Evan and I hung out there for a moment longer to savor the warmth before thanking her and leaving.

I shivered a tad when some cold wind hit me. I squeezed my eyes shut, expecting more, but I didn't feel any more wind and opened my eyes. I was met with a surprising sight- a lively, bustling town covered in sparkling, sugary snow and buildings about as old as in Orbis but a slightly poorer style than Orbis's grand white buildings.

Evan chuckled once from next to me. I turned to look at him and found he was staring at me, the smile on his face widening a little when I looked at him. He pulled a hand out of his pocket to gesture to the town in front of us. "Welcome to El Nath, Mercedes." He said with enthusiasm.

I blinked, then smiled back at him a little, sharing in his enthusiasm. We had finally made it to El Nath.

**Finally.**

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><p><strong>It amuses me how the end to this chapter is very much connected toward my feelings to the game itself. I usually get quite annoyed when I get a quest that can take me either halfway across the damn WORLD or back to where I just was. Meh, good thing they made the boats free during the Big Bang(at least, I think it was the Big Bang...).<strong>

**Next chapter should come in a week, maybe less. We shall see ^^* **


	10. The City of Orbis: Village of Snow

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory, and it's hard to say something witty with that.**

**Still technically the weekend, but I hope this isn't THAT late ^^; I intended to upload this with the chapter to my Concert fic, but I was too tired/lazy to write after I wrote the chapter to the other fic.**

**So yeah, here it is. On Sunday night.**

**Since it's Sunday and I'm a bit lazy, this chapter will be a tad short. Filler chapters, FTW? ^^;; But I'll also take the oppertunity to make this chapter longer by answering some reviews/giving some reviewers a shout-out. Don't be too disappointed if I don't shout-out to you, though. Keep writing in and, if I decide to do another filler-review chapter, I may mention you ^^*.**

**Dragon obsessed maple player- Hello der ^^* I'm guessing you read my bio, since you miraculously know that Evan is based on my boyfriend~ Curse me and my allusions as a writer, I guess.**

**Yes, Aran will be based on a friend of mine who is an actual Aran on Maple. WHAT a surprise. Ah well, he's awesome and a fabulous friend, so there shouldn't be any complaints.**

**Meepbeep- Philus is the younger-looking male Elder. Danika is the girl.**

**Kaskodiona- Oh, does my Polish show? ^^; Dziekuje za przeczytanie~**

**Elumni- You persistant reviewer, you ^^* thanks so much, your reviews inspire me so~ give yourself a pat on the back**

**Unclique- hehe, glad that another Evan has joined the mapleworld~ It's really a great class. Wait till you get up to the high lvls. The main Evan in my guild (aka the dude that inspired this fic XP) is quite badass~**

**person- uhh... :| *has no clue how to respond to that***

**Redd Night- thank you for your praise ^^* Aran will show up soon, no worries~**

**WildOrion- thanks for pointing that out. I fixed it, if you want to go see.**

**asdasdas- =.= exact example of a troll. Please don't be this person.**

**Forum friends- hello hello~ Thanks for reading this fic, my friends. I love yah ALL over der on LE ^^* I know only some of you know about/play Maple. I appreciate your reading this**

**Subscribers who haven't reviewed- thank you so much for subscribing and/or rating. You are all awesome! *hands out internet chocolate chip cookies***

**Those of you who I haven't addressed, just know that I thank you too and hope you enjoy reading this fic as it continues ^^***

**Welp, now that I have finished with that, I should probably get to the story. Right? Right.**

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><p><strong>The City of Orbis: Village of Snow<strong>

We spent a bit of time wandering El Nath before Evan had to go resume his assignment. With the need to stretch our legs, we walked by ourselves while Sylv and Mir tagged along behind us. Even in our new clothes and the apparent magical barrier that kept the worse of the cold outside of the town, we still had to huddle to keep warm.

I had tried to give Evan his cloak back, once I realized that I was still wearing it, but he refused. "Keep it. After what just happened, you should stay as warm as possible. I'm tough, I can handle it." He had told me with a smile. No amount of arguing had swayed him past this decision, so I ruefully kept it on. It was warm, though, so I couldn't complain much.

Once I had gotten over this silly, one-sided argument, I began to really observe the beauty and sadness of El Nath. The snow on the ground and roofs shone even in dim sunlight, looking like sugar. The few people who walked around conjuring fire to keep warm or chatting with friends looked cozy and comfortable.

As for the sad side, if you look beneath the snow, you could see that El Nath is really... run-down. The buildings were old and some made of wood. There were holes in walls, perhaps from adventurers and monster attacks. Many people walked around in tattered clothes, though they looked cheery and warm despite the quality of the outfits, so unlike my sturdy armor.

Sylv noticed my worried frown and poked me in the back with her snout._** "You alright, Merc?"** _She said this out loud, so Evan and Mir glanced over in curiosity.

I sighed and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. It's just... the situation here seems so... sad. All these people living in such poor conditions." My eyes caught the sight of two children in thin clothes with patches on them. "It doesn't seem right."

Evan paused, making me stop to look at him. He looked at those same children with a thoughtful gaze before smiling slightly. I looked again at the children to see them playing in the snow, laughing and chasing each other. "Even if this village doesn't have the best homes and the people don't have the most money, they seem pretty happy. Being happy counts the most, doesn't it?"

I couldn't help but smile softly at his words. He was right, of course. These kids look happy, even as they're probably shivering underneath those rags. "Yes, it does." I eventually answered him. We began walking again and, with those angsty thoughts out of my head, I gazed once again around El Nath at the beauty it emitted.

_"Well, enough lollygagging._" Mir said, disturbing my thoughts. _"We have to get going if we want to get your assignment done and over with before nightfall"_ He poked Evan in the back with his snout. Evan nodded.

"Yeah, we better hurry along." He agreed, gazing at me strangely questionably, as if he expected my approval. After a moment of staring at his strange gaze, I nodded wordlessly. He seemed to relax noticeably and walked faster.

"Good thing we're already going in the direction we need to go. You'll need to help me even more with this, Merc." He said when I effortlessly caught up to him. I tilted my head curiously.

"What are we going to be doing now?" I asked.

"Fighting zombies."

I froze in place, blinking and staring at him as he slowed down and looked back at me. "Um, something wrong?"

"Uh, no. Nothing. Just... didn't know there were zombies around." I frowned, my head spinning. Zombies? There are actual monsters that are zombies? I thought those were only found in made-up stories to scare children.

"Yeah, they're very weird. We can take them no problem, though, so don't worry about getting hurt." Evan smiled a little, but he looked more like he was reassuring himself. I couldn't help but snicker once wryly. He still doubted me so.

Then again, I DID get injured on an ambush and would've gotten killed if he hadn't shown up. But, I digress.

"No worry on this end, Evan. I'll be glad to help you." I told him, surprising myself a tad at my sincerity. He didn't seem to notice, though, as he grinned.

"Awesome. Then lets KICK SOME UNDEAD ASS!" He suddenly shouted, raising his wand. It glowed along with Mir's tattoos and the dragon gave a loud roar, making some snow fall off roofs and startled some people. I stared at the sight and chuckled a bit, giving the flustered Sylv behind me a pat on the neck. No matter how powerful Evan and Mir were, they were still children, after all.

**X-X-X**

The people of El Nath that never leave the town are very lucky indeed. They get to stay inside the barrier and never freeze to death. However, Evan and I had to go outside to, well, fight zombies. Just perfect.

The both of us were shivering seconds after we went through the portal to the outside, and it only got worse as we took the long trip to a huge cave up in the mountains, past huge fuzzballs, penguins, and wolf-like creatures. I half wanted to retreat, but it wasn't in my nature to run from a fight. Proof was in my still stinging shoulder and leg. Also, if I turned tail and ran, Evan would see me as a coward and that would be shameful. ...Wait, why do I care? I frowned to myself as I pondered that. Evan noticed, but misinterpreted the frown.

"Don't worry about the cold, Merc. A few minutes of travel and fighting and we'll both be warmer in no time." He grinned knowingly, despite the shudders escaping through his teeth.

My eyebrow rose at him. "That's good news. When does that kick in?" I said, bitingly sarcastic. He frowned a little before blinking at something in the distance and smiling.

"Right now." He murmured. I eyed him questionably and was about to ask what he meant when he put a finger to his lips and pointed ahead. I looked to see another huge fuzzball, called a Yeti or something, shuffling around. Before I could ask what was so special about it (since they were weak enough for me to finish off with my weakest skills), Evan pulled out his wand and swished it quickly.

Mir glowed and spat out a fireball, which hit the yeti. It dropped a second after contact. I snorted and yawned. "Woow, amazing. I bet you're sweating already." Evan wasn't amused by my sarcasm and made a face at me before nodding back to the Yeti.

"Just wait for it." He told me. I rolled my eyes and glanced over to look at the dead carcass of the fuzzy white thing. I didn't see it, however. Instead, I saw a giant furry monster with horns, arms, and legs in its place. I could feel my eyes get wider.

"Wh-... what happened to the..." I stammered out, looking at the smug Dragonmaster next to me.

"Unlike the ones at the entrance, these Yetis transform when you kill them. They're much more powerful that way. Anytime you want to apologize for your sass, I'll be listening." He crossed his arms to punctuate his sentence and eyed me expectantly.

I smirked at him as my bowguns appeared in my hands. "Good luck waiting for that to happen. If you need me, I'll be killing these things off." I managed to catch his scowl before waltzing over to the monster. It had a cute scruffy face despite its cruel eyes, which stared at me dismissively. I made the first move, my bowguns glowing green as I fired spinning arrows straight at the Yeti's chest.

It howled as my hits blew it back, trying to block but failing. After a long moment and a huge amount of hits, I paused to roll my shoulders and let my bowguns relax. This gave the Yeti the opportunity to growl at me and stalk closer. I saw its hands glow but, before it could hit me, I dashed forward, my own hands glowing blue underneath my bowguns. The yeti fell back with me and, before it could recover, I gave it an uppercut.

It tumbled into the air, but took an opportunity to hit me. I winced and hopped back to resume my quick arrow attack, intense green light illuminating the fight in the slight darkness of the cave. It roared as it died and fell before fading away. I huffed, my breath puffing out in the cold air, and looked back over my shoulder at my companions.

Sylv was calmly laying down where I was once standing, looking a little smug, like 'that's my friend, right there'. Mir was a little dumbfounded, but unfazed, like my moves hadn't surprised him very much. Evan's reaction was strange- he had a far away gaze as he looked at me, face unreadable except for a gaping mouth from shock.

He quickly recovered when my eyes met his and he cleared his throat, trying to look unimpressed. I was about to shoot a witty remark at him when another roar erupted behind me. I quickly turned to see another yeti, slowly walking toward me. It had an arrow in its hand.

Oh, well, I guess I had alerted others of our presence.

I turned to look at Evan again and gestured to the snowy monster behind me. "Do you want to handle this one?" He blinked, as if I had surprised him, then grinned and nodded, walking by me with a poke to my (good) arm from his wand.

"Step aside, girly, and let the dragonmage handle this." He said, facing the monster with a glowing wand and dragon. I debated grumbling at him for that display- how rude, and to someone like me!- but thought better of it and watched him shoot lightning and fire for the time being.

**X-X-X**

This went on for a few hours. I would fight a yeti, and then he would, and back and forth it would go as we progressed further into the cold cave. Evan was right about one thing, though- the fighting worked us out and warmed us up.

We soon moved on to some darker-colored yetis, also transforming and slightly more powerful. After those came some penguin-like creatures called Pepes riding the Yetis. The combined power, as well as the separate power when they were defeated and parted, made it hard and took a while but we had pulled through nonetheless. Eventually, we had to fight together to defeat the werewolves and lycanthopes. Once we arrived at a crossroads between the entrance to the Dead Mine and an ominous castle, we decided to stop and set up camp.

Thankfully, Evan and I expected this to be an overnight trip. I half hoped it would be a short trip like when we went to the cellions, but Evan assured me that it would be a long trip with a lot of dangerous monsters before we left. So, we packed the bags on our rides saddles with camping gear that we bought in town.

By the time we had cooled off from our fighting, we were set up for the most part. I curled up against Sylv for heat and a pillow while also resting on a small mattress with a blanket. Evan was set up similarly, covered up by Mir's wing while laying on two blankets.

"Ah, eventful day, wasn't it Merc. Hard to believe it's only our first day knowing each other and we've already come this far." Evan said, folding his arms behind his head.

"Mm." I hummed, quite amazed indeed. It felt like many weeks had gone by but, really, just about a day ago, I had mistaken Evan for Freud. Now we're traveling the world together. Very strange.

"And many more days to come, right?" Evan peeked over at me. I frowned and hesitated, wondering that myself. Is this a thing now? How long will we travel together? Until a new assignment comes along, for him or me? Until one of us decides to leave?

"Merc?" He looked at me worriedly, his voice strangely soft now. I blinked, snapping out of my thoughts, and slowly nodded.

"Many more to come." I said, a small half-smile on my face. He nodded once, looking happier but still a little worried. I tried to find something more to say, but I couldn't keep the yawn from escaping my mouth. Evan looked wry when he caught me doing so. "Goodnight Mercedes."

I wanted to protest, but a yawn had escaped his lips as well. I sighed and nodded, turning to face Sylv's side before closing my eyes. "Goodnight Evan."

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><p><strong>Really, I was thinking about this while writing- only 1 full day has passed in the fic XP Freaky. It seems like many days. I mean, what sane people become very close to friends in just a day?<strong>

**But, I supposed that's the nature of Maplestory, and games in general. You meet a random person, chat, fight with them, invite them to guilds and parties, and BAM you're friends.**

**I'm just glad this is not going off the Maple game but, rather, Evan's and Mercedes' storylines XP **

**I should probably consider editing a chapter and fitting in an end to a day, just to make it a more plausible timeline. If you guys think I should, feel free to let me know.**

**Rate and Review~**


	11. A Time Brightest in the Dark

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**Ah, a/n's. I feel like I ramble too much. I should blog one of these days ^^; **

**If you guys think I ramble too much, please, feel free to say so. I already got one complaint but, really, the only thing one review can do is inspire me. It would take a LOT of reviews to get me to think "wow, better stop rambling :| "**

**Quick note in regards to a few of the reviews, though: while I said Evan is based on my boyfriend, I didn't mean that the WHOLE CHARACTER in this fic was based souly on my boyfriend O-o Evan might be a bit OC, but it's mostly because I haven't played an Evan past lvl 30 (as mentioned in ch. 1, I believe). No, Evan =/= my boyfriend. **

**However, and I wrote this in my bio, the relationship between Evan and Mercedes will be loosely based on/inspired by me and the bf's relationship. Nothing more, nothing less.**

**Christ, what an egg on my head it was when I read that you guys thought that I wasn't thinking of Evan but, rather, my boyfriend when writing this ^^; Nope, Evan is Evan. A slightly OC Evan, but Evan nontheless. Just like Mercedes is Mercedes (before anyone dares to say that I'm basing Mercedes off myself. I'm nothing like her, I assure you.)**

**There were also some reviews where they say Mercedes is more aloof like fairies and Evan is more childish. O-o I know all of that. That's what I made them like in the beginning. They're STILL like that. They're slowly changing, though, because that's what people do. They change. Even if they're heroes of Maplestory. **

**Plus, you guys forget that Mercedes is committed to not letting Evan know ANYTHING about her past that would tip him off that she is centuries old, so she can't act like the queen she is. She has to act like any normal person. She can, however, be all high and mighty, as you'll see in this chapter. Evan is still childish, but I don't expect him to stay that way for long. I mean, he went from being a farm boy to a dragon master overnight and has seen some horrible stuff. Realistically, that changes a person.**

**Anyway, this chapter... I think it might be my favorite so far, just because it's my first time flash backing ^^* I like flashbacks in movies and stories. I dunno why. Might be my (genetic) love for history in general XP.**

**This is slightly inspired by one of my reviewers, who suggested a flashback at some point. When I read it this morning, I spend the rest of the day thinking up something because this is actually the perfect chance to do this ^^*. So give yourself a pat on the back, reviewer. Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do.**

**This chapter, however, is where I must emphasis the disclaimer even more. I used a LOT from the game itself. It'd be copy-paste if I didn't come up with most of the dialog. **

**While there are many elements from the game in here, there might be a few things that I messed up on, too. If I screwed anything up about the characters, please let me know and I'll fix it.**

**One more thing. Another review of mine once suggested I make another story about Mercedes and Freud. ^^;; One thing at a time, please. I'm already managing 2 ongoing fics. Once I finish this one (and who knows when that'll be), I might think about writing a prequal or sequal. Might. We'll see.**

**Please, enjoy this awesome chapter~**

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><p><strong>A Time Brightest in the Dark<strong>

My feet shuffled on grass as I approached the hill. I could feel the tickling on my soles and hear my dress drag on the ground. It was probably getting a bit dirty, but I didn't care. I was too busy smiling at the sight in front of me.

I was walking in a meadow. I recognized it as Afrien's homeland, flying distance from my own town. A light breeze came from behind me, making beautiful red and orange flowers flutter and petals tear off and dance with the leaves and loose grass in the wind. It was a beautiful place, marred only by the elegance of my hometown.

The only thing out of place in the flat land was an incline that led to an abnormally flattened piece of land, overlooking a cliff. Legend said that the first dragons who colonized on this land landed on the hill when it was perfectly curved and flattened it. It was believed to be good luck, which amused many people and some even had special events on it when the dragons allowed it.

I did not believe such things; I believed that it was a good place to relax, and that is exactly what I was planning to do today. I let myself walk slowly up, my tree-green dress tailing behind me and stirring up some dust. The gold pattern along my waist ruffled with the wind and my movements. My hands brushed at my hair to fix my crown, though this was simply habit. I had left my crown back home.

It took a while, but I finally made it up the hill, watching my step at the strange break between the incline and the flat land. I staggered only slightly, my bare feet planted firmly, before pausing to look ahead. The sounds of a battle filled my ears and I smiled as warmly as the sun overhead.

Aran swung his polearm skillfully, glowing faintly gold from Maha, his polearm's spirit. His face lit up in determination as he faced down the card dealer, Phantom. Phantom whipped out cards left and right, counterattacks and defenses he had stolen from other classes and opponents that dared face him down. His blonde hair was matted with sweat and his hat was askew, but he was still smirking with a mischievous glint in his eyes that only a thief possesses.

I stood and watched, hands folded behind my back. I could feel my face warp into an expression of compassion, like a mother watching her children grow. This would be a daily occurrence, although it wasn't always the same pair that sparred.

Aran managed to clip Phantom in the shoulder, making him stagger back. He then summoned his ice powers and prepared to freeze Phantom, but the thief teleported and used a card to summon green smoke. Aran coughed violently, which gave Phantom the opportunity to throw his cards and make the warrior land on his back, polearm flying out of his hand. The gold glow faded and I could hear Maha whispering insults about what a stupid move that was as Aran sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

The green smoke faded and Phantom grinned down at Aran. "Look like I win again, my friend." He said in his smooth voice, flicking a strand of sticky hair from his face. Aran glared up at him.

"No way, you bastard! You cheated! We agreed, no mage powers!" He snarled, staggering up. Phantom chuckled.

"Ah, did we? Oh well~" Phantom offered the grumbling warrior a hand, who took it, stood, and immediately twisted it and flipped Phantom onto his back. The thief in purple blinked before making a displeased face and slowly standing. The flip, however, caused him to face me, so he finally spotted me as he sat up and smiled.

"Mercedes. How wonderful of you to join us." He said. Aran looked up from his foe and grinned excitedly.

"Yo, Merc! What up, girly?" He yelled, giving me a wave. I snickered and walked forward.

"Nothing much, just watching two idiots fight about a fight." I said with a teasing smile. Phantom laughed in delight, but Aran made a face and blushed.

"It was his fault! He didn't play fair." Aran pointed to Phantom, who stared back in shock.

"What? You're pinning your loss on ME? How dishonorable of you, Aran. I'm shocked." Phantom laminated, though the mock under his tone was obvious. Aran scowled as he walked over to grab his polearm.

"As if you know anything of honor, card thief. You used powers you STOLE to win against me even when you swore not to." The polearm master barked back. Phantom looked honestly insulted and was about to retort when a clear voice interrupted him.

"What is dishonorable right now, however, is that you two are fighting in front of a lady, and a queen for that matter." We all looked toward the voice. I was already smiling wider when I recognized the voice, before even looking. I'd know it anywhere.

Freud was laying back against Afrien's huge belly, the dragon taking up the entire other half of the flat land with his whole tail hanging off. The dragon had one lazy eye open to watch us, his master right beside his snout. Freud was twirling his staff in one hand, wearing his trademark red coat over some plain clothes. He was eying us in amusement, mostly Phantom and Aran.

"Forget about your fight, you guys. It's not like rules matter anyway. In a real battle, people will cheat and do anything to win. You can learn from Phantom, Aran." Freud chided, beaming at his friend. Aran made a face. He didn't like being told he was wrong.

"Then I'm screwed, because I can't do any magical crap like you guys. All I can do is summon ice and a huge sword, and that's hard!" Aran whined. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"You think it's easy for us, Aran? We get tough magic, too. Yours is pretty much effortless." I told him, raising an eyebrow. Aran simply grumbled in response and went to sit down against a tree.

"Well, whatever. Better luck next time, and you BET there will be a next time, card freak." Aran gave Phantom a promising smirk. Phantom smiled evenly back and nodded before sitting down right where he was standing. I simply smiled and dusted at my dress.

"Merc, there's a spot for you right here if you want it." Freud patted the spot beside him against Afrien's belly. Afrien rumbled a little as his eye slid shut. I eyed the spot the grinning dragon master offered and began gliding to it. Freud smiled happily when he saw me approach. I liked it when he smiled, but the look on his face when I suddenly whipped out my bowguns and pointed them at him was much better.

"Dragon Master Freud, I'm afraid to inform you that I have no intention of sitting next to you until you defeat me in battle. I challenge you to a duel." I said seriously, though a smile played at my lips. Freud stared at me for a while before flashing a teasing smile back and standing, gripping his staff. It glowed a faint red as a brighter red shone on Afrien's tattoos.

"I accept your challenge, Elf Queen Merce-" He began, but was cut off by a sudden strong gust of wind coming from behind him. The wind was knocked out of me as I staggered back a little, Freud staggering forward as momentum from the wind pushed him. I opened my eyes, for I had closed them when the wind hit, and let out a soundless gasp as I saw storm clouds rolling in.

I heard Phantom and Aran jump to their feet and, from my peripheral vision, saw Freud turn to look. The wind died down a little as the island was covered in darkness. In the Maple World, rainstorms weren't uncommon, but violent storms with wind, black clouds, and lightning that now began to flash were a sign of a huge dark power approaching.

"It can't be..." I murmured, shocked. I gripped my bowguns tighter as I looked at my friends. Aran was already gripping his polearm cautiously, Maha reflected faintly off the blade. Phantom was the only one who met my panicked gaze with his own calm, yet disbelieving look, his weapon and a special card flashing in his hand. I flinched when I heard the ground shake and turned to see Afrien upright, growling at the clouds. His master backed up beside me, gripping his staff and looking serious for the first time today.

Another gust of wind hit us, this time my eyes open as I saw 4 black figures materializing in front of us. They wore dark cloaks with a purple insignia for the Black Mage, and their hoods were down to reveal their faces. I recognized only two faces of my longtime foes- Orchid, and her twin brother.

We stood at the ready for battle, my bowguns already glowing green, illuminating me and Freud. The foes didn't make a move, just stared at us evenly. Orchid's brother smiled an ugly smile at me, but I was keeping my eye on his more powerful sister. As if she wasn't staring at me before, she met my eyes. Her purple irises gleamed and she smiled cruelly.

As if the world shifted around me, I felt alone in the darkness. I tried to look around, but I couldn't look away from my rival. She also looked different somehow. I could see an advanced armor underneath her cloak, the material different from anything that I have ever seen. The insignia on her cloak had changed as well. It was now the form of purple bat wings. The Black Wings, I recognized, but they didn't exist in this time...

I stared at her in shock as her smile widened. Her hands glowed as she prepared a spell, but I couldn't move at all.

"I'm waiting for you, Mercedes" She said, her voice echoing in my mind. She thrust out her arms and a beam of purple with black lightning shot at me. I screamed.

**X-X-X**

I woke up screaming at the top of my lungs, jolting up from my feverish sleeping position next to Sylv, coming face to face with cold air, snowflakes, and a loud echo.

I tried catching my breath, my ears ringing. I could only faintly hear Evan's concerned voice until he began shaking my arm.

"Merc? Merc! Are you okay? What happened?" He kept repeating, shaking me. I began feeling dizzy and batted him away.

"A-arg, stop shaking me!" I cried. He immediately stopped but didn't let go, simply moved in front of me and took hold of my shoulders so he could look into my eyes. His eyes were big and green, but now filled with worry and concern.

"Are you okay?" He asked again. I frowned and tried shrugging off the contact, but he refused to let go. Giving up after a short while, I nodded.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." I said, trying my very best not to stutter. He eyed me for a long time before finally letting go, but still sat in front of me.

"You're shaking." He said, almost matter-of-factly. I frowned and tried to take deep breaths to calm down. Why was I shaking? "Was it a nightmare?" Evan asked. I frowned more and hesitated before sheepishly nodding.

"Y-yes, a nightmare. A really bad one, from ba-... back when I was younger." I said slowly, almost letting it slip when the dream really took place. He didn't notice though, probably thinking I was still shaking and stuttering, and nodded. Then, hesitantly, he moved to sit beside me and put a hand on my shoulder. I knew I should shrug it off, but I didn't have the energy. The dream and the screaming wore me out.

"Don't worry, Merc. We're here to protect you from the big baddy. Go back to sleep and I'll wake you up in the morning." Evan said, still managing to sound arrogant with his serious statement. I wondered if it was on purpose. Unfortunately, I wasn't in the mood to think, for exhaustion hit me immediately and I found myself slumping back against Sylv's arm.

"K-kay. Good night, Evan." I murmured. Evan's hand slipped off my shoulder, but I could still feel him sitting beside me.

"Night, Merc." He whispered back. I slowly drifted off, but in the back of my mind, I felt I should show my gratitude to my new friend.

_Thank you, Evan._

I don't know if I said it out loud or not.


	12. El Nath: Zombies

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**Happy Casmere Pulaski day! ^^* **

**Yeah, weird way to start, but I'm off today because of it and I'm Polish, so it's only right that I say it.**

**If you dunno who he is (and want to know. If you don't, skip this paragraph now), he was a Polish-American soldier who helped fight in the American Revolutionary war. He saved many lives and helped Americans get that much closer to gaining Independance. **

**So he gets his own holiday and I have a day off for it. Woot!**

**Good thing, too, because my weekend was crazy, hense no updates 'till now ^^; Sorry.**

**Thank you muchly for your reviews! I'm glad you all love the flashback chapter as much as I do. I'll try to do more of those when I have the chance. For now, however, you get a cute little chapter that may or may not have a battle scene.**

**Reading over my reviews, there was a comment about Mercedes strength earlier that I forgot about. I should probably answer this now ^^; Mercedes hasn't been outside of Victoria often, but there are assignments (read: quests) in Victoria that take you out of the island and into places like Orbis or Ludi, where there are also assignments. **

**She mostly got stronger (read: leveled) off of those monsters, but also the experience from the assignments. However, she doesn't remember/bothered to remember where she had already been, and there are many places where she has only seen part of. Like, she's been to Orbis but she has only seen a part of it, and she hasn't been to Aquarium or El Nath before. This gives Evan a perfect oppertunity to hang out with his new lady friend, no? XP**

**Note: Some of the monsters in this part of the Dead Mine are now too powerful for Evan and Mercedes to be able to kill. I do not reccomend that any person under lvl 120 goes to seek out these monsters. I believe I have said this before, but every element in the game that I use is most likely twisted to fit the story. Levels don't matter, skills don't matter, and experiance doesn't matter. I have limits on them, of course, and you'll see them in future events. So heads up.**

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><p><strong>El Nath: Zombies<strong>

I woke up from a dreamless sleep the second time. I was strangely more tired than before, my eyes burning as I rubbed them, and I felt a little heavy. I tried to sit up, but something was weighing me down from the side. I looked there in confusion and found Evan asleep against my side.

I frowned. Hm, he must've passed out here. I tugged my arm, but in his unconscious state, he was gripping at it and my movement just made him grip it harder with a discontent groan. I winced as his nails dug into my skin, but couldn't help but feel sympathetic toward him. After all, I was the one who woke him up with my screaming. He probably stayed up longer after that to make sure I fell asleep soundly, for all I knew. I sighed and laid still until his hand relaxed. Guess I was going to be here for a while.

I looked up at the grey sky. We were still in El Nath, yet I was strangely warm. I wondered idly why and looked around. My curiosity waned into understanding when I saw Mir sleeping on Evan's other side, his wing covering him and a bit of me. He must've moved with Evan to keep him warm. I glanced over at Sylv, who was also sleeping. Her's and Mir's wings nearly touched.

I chuckled softly when I thought of her reaction when she woke up to find that she is sleeping so close to a predator she dislikes so much. My quiet snickering caused Evan to yawn and stir. Ah, wouldn't be long now, it seems. I waited as Evan slowly blinked, yawned some more, and lifted his head to look around. His gaze landed on me, his eyes dull and tired.

"H-hey there Merc." He mumbled. My eyebrow rose a little.

"Good morning, Evan." I answered him simply. There was a long pause as the gears in his head began working, then his eyes widened and he bolted up. This caused Mir to get startled awake, which woke Sylv and made her jump several feet away. Luckily, I sat up before I could get injured by her flailing around.

"M-Merc! You're awake! Are you okay? I fell asleep a little after you did! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to trap you there or anything! H-how long were you awake?" Evan set off on a huge ramble. I held up a hand to get him to stop.

"One at a time, Evan. I'm fine, and I haven't been awake long."

"Oh... okay." He frowned meekly. I couldn't help but smile a little at that. "Hey... you two okay?" He suddenly asked, looking at Sylv and Mir. Mir made a face (I think) and lightly hit Evan in the back of the head.

_"Dude, you scared me! You don't wake a dragon that way! You just don't! I could've killed you or something."_ Mir grumbled, still sounding sleepy.

_**"Aaaahhh, I can't believe I was laying so close to a scary predator. I could've been eaten!"**_ Sylv fretted out loud. Mir blinked, looking hurt. I could feel Sylv's shock. _**"...Did I say that out loud?"**_

"Yep." I snickered a little.

_"You think I would eat you?"_ Mir stared at Sylv, still looking quite wounded. Evan spoke up before Sylv could answer.

"This isn't the time or place for you two to be freaking out. It's freezing out here and we still have zombies to fry." he said.

"Surprisingly, he's right." I agreed, ignoring Evan's 'what do you mean, "surprisingly"?' expression. "We have to get moving, or we'll be right back here and making camp again before going back to El Nath." Ruefully, our companions agreed. We packed up and were soon on our way.

**X-X-X**

The ride through the rest of the areas of El Nath's farthest outskirts was more than a little awkward. Mir was still upset by Sylv's outburst and stayed far away from her, 'so you won't have to feel uncomfortable with a unicorn-eating dragon so close to you'. I could feel Sylv's shame for what she said, though she has felt that way since she laid eyes on Mir. I petted her mane, but it only seemed to make her feel worse and undeserving of comfort.

I glanced over at Evan and met his gaze. He sighed, watching me pet my companion, and I could see him pat Mir's neck in comfort as well. Mir looks like he needed it too- he looked like a kicked puppy.

Unfortunately for us, because of our distance and the howling cold wind, Evan and I had to yell to communicate, which attracted monsters. Lycans that were roaming around further into the El Nath outskirts, a place Evan said was called the Dead Mine, heard our yells and seeked us out. It took both our collective powers to kill all of the monsters we have attracted.

Later, we finally lost the huge powerful wolf men and came face to face with... undead people. My nose wrinkled by itself as I witnessed these new monsters. They had human limbs, like arms and maybe a leg or two. Their skin was discolored and they all have blonde tufts of hair on their heads. I nodded to myself and started to climb off Sylv.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Evan suddenly shouted, staring at me in confusion. I stared back at him.

"Well, shouldn't we go kill the zombies?" I asked, frowning. He blinked and chuckled a little.

"Merc, those aren't the zombies we're looking for. We're looking for miner zombies, which are a little further on. These are coolie zombies, a weaker version of the zombies we're going after." He explained. I frowned more and looked down at the coolie zombies. They shuffled toward us very sluggishly and batted at us with their claws. I snorted a little at the pathetic display and hoisted myself up on Sylv again, who distractedly began flying a little behind the already moving Mir.

We continued a little further, mostly passing by more coolie zombies. Eventually, we crossed paths with monsters that looked like flying eyes. We had to kill those from the backs of our companions to keep them flying without getting injured. It took a lot of strength to kill the mass amount of eyes.

It took a while, but we got out of the area with the annoying little flying eyes and into a much warmer part of Dead Mine. I didn't complain, though. The cold wasn't for me. Evan was also delighted, but more because of the monsters we ran into next than the lack of freeze.

The monsters looked a lot like the zombies we ran into before, except they wore miner helmets. They also seemed to move faster than the other zombies, and there were... less of them. I frowned and looked at Evan.

"There seems to be very little of them." I noted. He nodded, looking down at the zombies, who have already begun to notice us.

"Yeah. It'll take a while to get what we need." He looked over at me. "I hope you don't mind staying here a little longer." I snickered a little. His worry was a little charming, I have to admit.

"I'll be fine. The question is-" I hopped off of Sylv, who stayed safely back, and summoned my bowguns. I faced down the annoyed zombies and have Evan a sly sideways glance. "-are YOU ready to take these on?"

Evan stared at me for a moment, then grinned and mimicked my moves, hopping off Mir and pulling out his wand, it and Mir already glowing. "I was born ready, Miss. Mercedes."

**X-X-X**

It took a very long time to collect what we needed. Evan and I were already pretty tired from fighting our way here so it took a lot of our strength and some potions to fight the zombies. They were also surprisingly strong. It worked out well, fortunately, because there were very few of them at a time.

However, this turned out to be a problem, because we need a HUGE amount of their teeth. A very huge amount. 150 of them.

"150? Why didn't you mention this before?" I nagged at Evan, uppercutting a zombie and slashing at him mid-air at the same time.

"You wouldn't have helped me if I had. Plus, would it really make a difference?" Evan yelled back, making Mir breath out fire at two zombies. "We're here now, we might as well fill the quota." I made a face, picking up a golden tooth and putting it in her bag.

"...Fine, but after this, it'll be over, right?" I asked firmly. Evan finished off his kill and also managed to find a tooth. He nodded to me.

"Yes, this is the last assignment. They promised me that."

So, we ended up killing and healing and resting for a while and killing some more until I could sense that it was nearing the evening. We ended up getting far away from each other, so we met in the middle to count our teeth.

"148, 149, 150." Evan counted on his palm after I had counted my half. He grinned. "Alright! We got 'em all." I smiled as well, mostly in relief to hear that we were finished, and handed him the teeth I had.

"Good, now lets pack up and head back." I said, walking back to Sylv, who was shaking snow off of her wings.

"Right on!" Evan followed, a little spring in his step.

**X-X-X**

Within a few minutes, we were packed up and on our way. Mir and Sylv flew faster than before, dodging monsters and trying hard to not get hit or let us get hurt. Eventually, we got to a safer part of the Dead Mine, where no monsters dared to bother us unless provoked, and we were able to relax a little.

We didn't feel like setting up camp, however. We just wanted to get back into town and into a warm inn, no matter how long that'll take us to reach. Mir and Sylv weren't very tired, so Evan and I pulled out our blankets and huddled in our saddles. Evan managed to fall asleep after a while, even.

Meanwhile, I was too busy brooding. About my dream, about this trip, about what happens next. My dream, mostly. It had been ages since I've thought of Orchid. She was the one who led the army against me and the other heroes. Her and her horrid brother. I shuddered at the memory of the two of them.

_I'm waiting for you, Mercedes._

Why did she suddenly appear in my dream? And in such modern attire. She didn't look like the way I had remembered her.

_I'm waiting for you, Mercedes._

What did her message mean? Why is she waiting for me? Is she even actually waiting? Or is that just my subconscious?

_I'm waiting for you, Mercedes._

This is so confusing...

Eventually, after some thought and traveling, I managed to fall asleep as well. I don't know when or how, but I awoke to see a little bit of an inn and a bed before falling back asleep. Good, this is almost over. I am glad.


	13. The Child's Ice Cracks

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**Whew, finally done with my little El Nath arc. Now we move on to the more epic (or so I hope) Black Wings arc ^^* Fucking finally! Been waiting for this since I started writing.**

**In other news, there is gonna be a Maplestory revamp. It looks pretty awesome, especially the aliens ^^ I still remember the aliens from before. I got a chair from that era~ **

**But these aliens are said to be much more badass and destructive. I mean, they destroyed New Leaf City, so it's probably pretty hardcore O-o**

**Anyway, enough of that. Enjoy the chapter~**

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><p><strong>The Child's Ice Cracks<strong>

My mind was a little clearer once I awoke from my slumber. I felt like I had slept for centuries again. I sat up slowly, looking around at the unfamiliar room. It looked like an unrefined in, with cracks on the wall and peeling wallpaper. I wrinkled my nose a little and stretched. I was surprised to find my arms were bare.

I looked down at myself. I was only wearing the thin shirt and shorts I usually wear under my armor. My hair was also cleaner and shinier than it had been before and the wrappings around my wrists and at my injuries were changed. I frowned, pleasantly surprised but also confused. I couldn't have done this in last night's state. So who did?

As if the world was answering my question, after a brief knock on the door, Evan walked in. He was also cleaned up, armor shiny and carrying my equally-shiny armor. "Hey, you're finally awake." He grinned happily. "You sleep like the dead sometimes. Didn't even flinch when I and the maid had you cleaned up."

"Uh huh..." I eyed him for a long time. He blinked and turned really red and flustered.

"Oh! No! I didn't see anything, don't worry! The maid gave you the bath, I just helped you out of yours and had it polished with mine! Honest! I-I..." He trailed off when I started snickering.

"Alright, alright, I believe you." I smiled at the still-flustered Dragonmaster. Speaking of, I looked over his shoulder for Mir. "Hey, where are Mir and Sylvidia?"

"Outside talking. I had to act as mediator for a little bit between them before they decided to speak in a civilized matter instead of like bratty children." Evan shrugged a shoulder. My eyebrow rose.

"That bad?"

"Mir was shooting fireballs at her tail to frighten her." Evan made a face. I sighed, glancing out the window.

"Hopefully, they work it out soon." I mused, then rubbed my eyes. "Is there breakfast before we head up to Orbis?" Evan nodded and handed me my armor.

"It's down in the kitchen. Feel free to help yourself, I already ate." He said, then turned to go. I frowned.

"Are you leaving?" I wondered. He paused at the door and there was a weird moment of hesitation before he turned to give me a smile.

"Just have to turn in the assignment. I agreed to meet with the person in town so we wouldn't have problems when going back to Orbis." I nodded in understanding and began slipping out of bed.

"Alright, take your time. I'll get changed and eat and we'll be on our way once you get back." I said. Evan nodded again and hurried out. I frowned and grabbed my armor. It's easy to forget that Evan is still a suspicious character to me. We've known each other for at least 2 days, yet it feels like forever. I wonder, in the back of my head, what makes me feel like this.

I slipped on my clean and snug armor and went downstairs, lost in my own thoughts. I managed to snap out of them long enough to see Mir and Sylv talking outside. I could barely make out what they're saying, but it sounded like they were talking about all the adventures they've been on. I smiled. It was nice to see them talking and making nice. Sylv deserves a new friend in this period in time.

I ate some food for breakfast/lunch, since it was actually lunch time, and sat around waiting. There were few people in the inn, and most of them were busy chatting or cleaning. I made idle chat with a few maids, who are notorious gossip mongers in any town, but other than that, I sat around and thought some more about Evan and Orchid and what would happen next.

It seemed like hours, but Evan eventually returned, looking like he had been running. As predicted, he didn't get any more assignments. "Now it's time to get you a few. I can help you with them no problem." Evan told me with a huge grin. I smiled back and commented on what a good idea that was.

**X-X-X**

In a matter of minutes, we were saddled on Sylv and Mir, who continued chatting as they rode to the tower and made their way up. It was exausting work, but we were all in strangely high spirits. I ended up singing a soft old tune I knew from my childhood. I half expected Evan to comment, but he just smiled and listened.

The ride was shorter than usual, thanks to a helpful bishop's advice to use hidden portals at the bottom and top of each floor. We had to hop off our rides to use them, but it was still a much faster alternative. Finally, we had made it to Orbis.

_**"Ah, finally! Warmth at last." **_Sylv sighed happily, stretching her wings out toward the bright sun overhead. I couldn't help but laugh a little. Even in our high spirits, we were tired after the journey, so Sylv and Mir spread themselves out on a platform to sunbathe and Evan and I sat and contemplated where to go looking for an assignment for us both.

"I think you'll like Ludi, or maybe Leafre. That one is pretty advanced, though, so I don't know if you could." Evan mused. I frowned, still remembering Leafre. Was it any different? Did those furry citizens still occupy the town?

We both suddenly jumped when we heard a shrill ringtone go off. I recognized it as mine and dug my phone from my bag. The id said it was one of the Cygnus Knight guards in Elluel. "Excuse me for a moment." I told Evan before rushing off and answering the phone. "Yes?"

**"Hello, Queen Mercedes. Is this a bad time?"**

"Um, no. Has something happened?"

**"Oh, no, nothing like that."**

"...Then what is it?"

**"The Elders want to know how long you plan on keeping that child with you."**

I blinked, utterly confused. "Child? What child?"

**"One of the children frozen in ice. You came and said you may have found a way to free the town from the curse but needed to test it on a child first. The Elders want to know if you were successful."**

...

I was pretty much frozen in shock and fear. "When was this?"

**"Yesterday. You don't remember that?"**

Yesterday. While I was traveling the El Nath tundra. "That... that wasn't me. I was in El Nath the entire time yesterday."

**"Really? It looked a lot like you, though."**

"Is there anyone in the Black Wings that is a master of disguise?" I felt colder than when I was in El Nath. If the Black Wings got ahold of an elven child... No, can't think negatively yet.

**"Oh God... Yes, there is. That must've been him! I-I'm so sorry, Queen Mercedes! I didn't know...!" **The guard became very flustered, spewing out apologies while my heart skipped beats.

The Black Wings kidnapped a child. A child from a town that supposedly doesn't exist. How did they know? More importantly, how were they able to fool the guard into thinking it's me? It's one thing to look like me, it's another to act like me.

"It's fine, you couldn't have known. Okay, tell the Elders what happened, have them send a message to Athena. I'll be right there." I ended the call before he could respond and rushed to where Evan and the others were. Sylv read my thoughts once I got close and gasped softly. Evan and Mir looked confused and worried.

"Merc? What's going on?" Evan asked. I grabbed my stuff and grabbed Evan's wrist, surprising him.

"We have to get back to Victoria Island. Now." I demanded. My expression was enough to convince him to grab his stuff and run like hell to the port.

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><p><strong>And it begins ^^* How exciting already~. I wanted to at least get them to Elluel before ending the chapter, but that'd be a better beginning than an ending.<strong>

**Ah well, hope you guys enjoyed it anyway~**

**Rate and Review!**


	14. Mysterious Mine

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory**

**Sorry if I kept you all waiting so long XP One brief thing and then the story.**

**If you guys feel I should change the fic and make it more accurate Evan-wise, please tell me. I've been planning on going back and fixing things during my spring break (which my school has in the second week of April -.- mehhh) anyway, and this includes Evan's character (which is so terribly OOC, it burns people's eyes XP). If there is anything specific I should change, feel free to message me. I'll be trying hard to keep the plot where it is, however, so there might be things I CAN'T change due to its importance in the plot.**

**Alright, I've said my bit of the week. ON TO THE CHAPTER!**

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><p><strong>Mysterious Mine<strong>

Evan and I couldn't get to Elluel fast enough. I felt too anxious to sit still on the boat, so I paced restlessly. Evan wasn't sitting either, but rather just standing and watching me worriedly. Mir and Sylv were sitting nearby. Mir shared in Evan's worried look, but was also pretty confused. Understandable, since I have not told them the reason we were returning to Victoria.

I mean, what was I supposed to tell them? 'We have to go back because a frozen child in a village that shouldn't exist has been kidnapped by the most evil organization known to the Maple world'? I wouldn't even believe myself, nor would I refrain from asking millions of questions I wouldn't be able to just ignore or lie about. No, I can't tell them outright what happened, but I've remained as subtle as possible when they asked.

"I got an assignment from my trainers. A child has been kidnapped by someone and I'm supposed to go back and get information before rescuing him or her." I told him. Evan frowned, furrowing his brow.

"That's weird. When did this happen?" He asked.

"Yesterday, apparently, while I was unreachable." I made a face. Whoever orchestrated this was smart. Somehow, he or she found out I was at El Nath, far from my home, and chose that moment to disguise themselves as me to kidnap a child for...

For what? This baffled me. Why kidnap a child? Why not come at me directly, as done so in the past?

Because you'd defeat them with ease I heard Sylv say in my head. I blinked. I had forgotten that she could read my thoughts, as scattered as they are. She was right, of course. In the past, I had defeated the Black Wings members that had come after me easily. They would learn from their mistakes and come after me indirectly. I took a deep breath as I continued pacing. It doesn't matter the reasons- a child has been kidnapped and it's up to me to save them.

Finally, finally, finally, the boat docked at Ellinia. We raced off as quick as we could and headed toward the trees, dodging weak monsters with ease. Eventually, we came by a hooded figure. I could see he was wearing familiar-colored armor underneath a cloak and sighed in relief.

I had called back the Cygnus knight earlier for him to meet me outside of town. I mean, I can't take Evan into Elluel or tell him to wait outside while I go in. He'd follow me and he'd see too much. I want Evan to know as little as possible for now, especially at this moment, where outside knowledge is causing my problems.

Evan eyed the man, but I assured him that I knew him. I gestured for Evan and Mir to stay back while Sylv and I flew forward to meet with the Cygnus Knight.

"Oh, Queen Mercedes, I'm so-" He began when he saw me sliding off of Sylv.

"Shh!" I hissed quickly and glanced over my shoulder at Evan. He was busy making Mir shoot lightning at some unfortunate Evil Eyes. Thankfully, this silly distraction means he didn't hear the knight. Good riddance, too. Ugly little things. I looked back at the confused knight.

"Don't be so loud when addressing me as a queen or speaking of Elluel. Keep yourself discreet." I murmured to him seriously. He still looked confused, but nodded. "Good. Now, tell me everything." I ordered. He nodded and began speaking.

The Cygnus Knight was doing his job as usual, patrolling with his comrades and watching out for Black Wings. Suddenly, Queen Mercedes showed up. They all exchanged pleasantries as usual, although the Queen was strangely stiff. He asked her if she felt okay and she said, 'Just focus on your job, Knight', and walked past him. She came back a few minutes later carrying a block of ice containing a small child within it. We asked what she was doing and she replied, still strangely stiff, that she has a theory on how to free the child from the ice and has to do so outside of town. He asked her if she consulted the Elders about this and she said she had, then demanded that he let her by in peace. He agreed and wondered if she needed help. However, before he could ask, she had already left. He took that as a no and returned to defending the town.

...Okay. This was clearly not something I had expected.

I stared at the Cygnus Knight as he told me all of this and questioned how well they really knew how I had acted. This person clearly was a suspicious character indeed. Even if I was formal or upset or angry, I'd never let it change the way I act around allies. This stiffness he described showed arrogance, which I normally did not show as a queen, even in my youth. Even the rude comment this stranger gave to the knight is unlike me at all.

However, the knight only suspected the queen was acting strange, but it was probably nothing serious. He told me his friends were like that as well. This worried me to no end.

Maybe I should ask the Elders to issue a Queen Mercedes 101 class when this is all over.

The knight apologized repeatedly for his mistake and how badly he felt about all of this. I stopped him when I was at the point of getting a mingrain. "Don't worry about this, Knight of Cygnus. I'll get the child back no matter what. Now, are the Elders informed of this?" The knight nodded.

"Yes, they know everything. They weren't as kind as you are, Miss Mercedes. They yelled at me and threatened my job." He admitted sheepishly. I smiled wryly, imagining the look on Phylius' and Danika's faces as they scolded the absentminded knight. Must've been a sight.

"I'll tell them later to spare your job, but you must be on your guard from now o-"

BZZZ BZZZ.

Everyone in the area, even Evan and Mir a few yards away, jumped in surprise. I was the first to regain my senses as I dug around my bag for my phone, faintly hearing Evan and Mir running over not moments later. I found the phone and looked at the id. It was an unknown number. I took a deep breath and flipped it open. "Hello?"

**"Miss Mercedes." **I froze for a moment at the voice. It was female, smooth and lilting. I didn't recognize it, but it still reminded me of all the Black Wings I had run into in the past, even the distant past. I cleared my throat quietly before answering.

"Yes, this is she."

**"You don't know me, but I suspect you know who I am. My boss has taken a very special interest in you." **The strange female said. I made a face as my suspicions were confirmed.

"Oh? Is that why you have called me?" I said, surprising myself with how calm I sounded.

**"Indeed. We have something here that you want. If you wish, all you have to do is come here and get it. We won't fight you when you do arrive, I assure you. We will allow you to leave on your merry way once you obtain what you come here for." **She purred. I scowled, my voice a little less calm now.

"What if I decide to attack all of you?" I said. There was a long pause before the woman responded.

**"But you wouldn't do that anyway, Miss Mercedes. That would jeopardize your mission, won't it? We have what you want and, if you want to keep it safe and sound, you shouldn't toy with us or egg us on. We don't hold back, and we rarely miss." **She said. I was about to respond when I processed what she said last. That sounded strangely familiar. It sounds like... something I would say.

**"Still there?" **The woman wondered. I blinked, coming back to reality.

"Yes, I'm still here. Fine, I'll play on your terms, then. Where do I need to go?" I said reluctantly. Despite my fingers itching to fight these monsters who dare steal a defenseless child, she is right. If I try to fight, I risk endangering the child, even with Evan at my side and all the power of my dual bowguns. Speaking of Evan, I wonder if he should come along at all. This seems like a solo hostage pick-up scenario. However, in the back of my head, I know Evan will want to come along, no matter what.

I was suddenly aware that the woman was talking on the other end. I blinked and focused as quick as possible.

**"-celent. I knew you'd make the right choice." **she was saying.** "Come to the Verne Mine at the outskirts of Edelstein. You'll need a hat, which I have arranged for you to have by a friend of mine in town. I have also set up a taxi cab to take you there, to avoid the annoying monsters in between the town and the mine. That sound acceptable?"**

"Yes, but can you save another hat for a companion of mine?" I asked, prepared for a no. If a hat is needed to get in, Evan would surely fight this and jeopardize my mission. I waited as the woman paused for a long time.

**"Ah, but of course. He will have to pay for it, though, as well as for a share of the taxi cab ride. The Verne Mine is a little... tight on money." **She said. I couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle as I imagined the Black Wings, which have been bleeding Edelstein dry, running out of their dirty money.

"Agreed." I said ruefully.

**"Wonderful. I'll see you soon, then, Miss Mercedes." **She said and ended the call without another word. I slipped the phone into my bag.

"What did they say?" Evan said from beside me. I couldn't help but jump a little, even though I had suspected that he was somewhere nearby.

"Don't scare me like that! She said to come to the Verne Mine in Edelstein for the child." I told him, smacking his shoulder halfheartedly for frightening me. He frowned deeply.

"That's strange. If it's in Edelstein, wouldn't the Resistance be able to handle it?" He wondered. I saw the Cygnus Knight fidget out of the corner of my eye with mention of the Resistance, but decided to ignore the reaction.

"It's likely they don't know about it. These people seem bent on making sure that only I arrive to rescue the child." I felt my face harden, then turned to the Knight. "Thank you for the information. You may go back to town." I told him, my voice straining to be kind despite my expression. The knight nodded and turned around without another word. I turned back to Evan, who swept his arm to gesture in the other direction.

"Shall we?" He asked.

**X-X-X**

It took a shorter time to get to Edelstein, since we were already pretty close to the port. The driver, who I had found out earlier was a supporter of the Resistance, gave us a quick ride there for free. Instead of being welcomed by Claudine, however, we were greeted by some fat officer. He was dressed in the typical police uniform all of the officers in Edelstein wore, but he was clearly not an undercover Resistance member, judging by Evan's cautious approach. He had a small amount of orange hair on his head as well as a mustache. He was too focused on a stick of chocolate to notice us at first.

When we got close enough, he looked up, mouth full. "Ah, You muft be Merfadieths. I am Bahan." He said, spitting out chocolate. I wrinkled my nose and shuffled backwards away from him while Evan frowned and stared at him.

"Um, we can't understand a single word you just said. Swallow your food first." He said. I nodded, making sure none of the chocolate spit got on my armor.

"Ah, thorry." He said, then took a moment to chew and swallow his candy before speaking again. "I said, 'You must be Mercedes. I am Bavan.'" I nodded slowly.

"Alright, much better. Yes, I am Mercedes and this is Evan." I nodded to Evan, who raised a hand to wave. Bavan, however, wasn't paying attention to him. He was looking at something behind us. I glanced over my shoulder to see Sylv and Mir floating just behind Evan and myself. "Oh, these are our mounts. I trust they'll be able to come with us?" I looked back at Bavan, who blinked and gave a nod.

"Eh, yeah, mounts ride free of charge, but they won't fit in the taxi. It's a good thing they can use those wings. Anyway, Evan, eh? I think I've heard the name somewhere before. Ah, but all names sound alike to me. Anyway, here are your hats. Put them on before you get in the taxi so the driver knows it's you. They'll take you straight to the Verne Mine. Hm, must be nice to go up there. I've only been there once. Creepy place, but it has central heating. Lucky bastards."

I felt like a fish by the time he was finished talking. He didn't seem to notice that I wanted to comment on what he was saying before he suddenly started talking about something else. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Evan was attempting to speak as well. When he was finished, however, we both had a silent mutual agreement not to say anymore. We, instead, say thank you to the chatty, overweight officer and left the station.

Right outside was a black taxi cab, a driver who's face was hidden waiting impatiently for us. Evan and I put on our hats, black police hats with a pin of the purple Black Wings insignia, and climbed in as Sylv and Mir flew beside the cab.

**X-X-X**

The cab dropped us off right outside of the entrance, somewhere in the middle of some desert-like terrain with rocky cliffs surrounding it. We stepped out and joined Mir and Sylv, who flew ahead when they saw which direction they had to go in. Once I ordered Sylv to stay out here, we wasted no time walking by the huge bunny guard in the front and storming into the mine.

It was dark except for a few scattered lanterns. The first thing we saw was cave entrances and a huge amount of boxes and machines. The people who were currently in the room turned to look at us questionably. I made out only a few, like a small girl being guarded by a smaller bunny guard, but my gaze was focused primarily on the woman walking toward us.

She was wearing a black and gold uniform similar to an officer's, but clearly more professional and expensive. Her hair was a flowing reddish-blonde. He had a small smile on her face which, at first glance, looked kind. However, I could see a tinge of arrogance in it, a smile that says 'you're silly to believe that you are better than me'.

"Welcome, Miss Mercedes, to the Verne Mine." She purred. No doubt about it, she was the woman on the phone. "I am La Tierre, Black Wings personal secretary."

I could see Evan freeze a tad, but I knew it didn't surprise him all that much to know that the Black Wings had indeed kidnapped the child. After all, they came to Edelstein, where the Black Wings reside. He should have suspected, at least. I couldn't worry about that now, however. I still had more pressing matters to deal with.

I slid the hat off my head and shoved it into my pack before looking La Tierre square in the eyes. "Where is the child?"

"Tsk, so quick to get to the point." The woman clicked her tongue, but kept the soft smile. She gestured to the door beside her. "Right through there."

I nodded and, without any second thought, dashed through the door. Evan followed close behind with Mir. This was a good choice because, once the door closed us in a brightly-lit room with a bunch of boxes filled with puppets, a bunch of bunny guards appeared and came at us. Evan and I quickly killed them, I with my green-lit arrows and speared punches and Evan with lightning and fire. Eventually, they all fell and I looked around for any signs of a child.

I frowned and was about to go back out there in confusion when I heard a small whimper in the corner. I turned to see a small figure huddled, bright brown eyes staring out at me in fear from under a curtain of light purple hair. I stashed my bowguns and kneeled in front of the child, whispering that I will not hurt him. Eventually, the child uncurled itself and shuffled closer to me for me to comfort. I whispered small words of comfort as I peeked down at the figure. I brushed back his hair behind his ears, pausing as I noticed something.

I slowly stood, child standing as well and grabbing my hand, and went over to Evan, who was looking at the opposite end of the room. He blinked at the child I was walking with and smiled a little.

"Okay, we found him. Let's go then." He began to leave when he noticed me shaking my head. I held out the child's hand to him.

"Take this child outside and leave her with Sylv. I have to have a little talk with our host." I said.

**X-X-X**

"Ah, back already? Your friend just left." La Tierre said with her small smile when I came out of the cave moments after Evan had. I glared at her.

"Where is the child, La Tierre?" I asked, voice sounding dangerous. La Tierre frowned a little, looking confused.

"He just left with your little friend, didn't he?" She asked, tilting her head.

"That is NOT the child I am looking for. That was a human child. I came for the elven child." I all but snarled, getting irritated. What game is this woman playing here? La Tierre blinked and thought for a moment before snapping her fingers.

"Ohhh, that was the child we took from Edelstein. Ah, it's so hard to keep track these days." She shrugged, smiling again. I stared at her, deeply disturbed. Just how many children are they keeping in here?

"So, where's the kid we're looking for?" Evan said from behind me, making me have a small heart attack when he startled me again. I made a mental note to hit him later.

"That child would be in the power plant. Just go through there." She pointed to the door leading into what looked like the hallway. "It's a big door with caution lines. Can't miss it. However, your friend over there-" She eyed Evan, looking him up and down. "-is going to have to wait outside. We can only allow one person in the plant at a time for safety reasons."

I frowned and nodded, dragging the clearly outraged Evan into the hallway without another word. Once we were at the power plant door, I let Evan's wrist go, which was a silent indication for him to speak.

"Merc, you can't seriously go in there alone. You saw what was waiting for us with the other child, this could be worse." He said. I nodded slowly.

"I know, but I have no choice. It would go faster this way anyway, and I agreed to play by their rules. If I don't, I'll be risking the child's safety, both children."

"What about your safety, Merc? You could get yourself killed in there, and then what?"

"Then you go in there and finish the job." I said simply. Evan blinked at that and shook his head.

"No way am I continuing this without you. This is your job, YOU are the one that needs to do this."

"Exactly." I said, then turned. "Which is why I'm going in alone." I started to step through the door when Evan suddenly grabbed my wrist. I turned to look at him when I met his worried eyes. Big, green, and earnest. My words faltered in my throat.

"Please, Mercedes? Don't go in without me. It's not safe, I know it. Please just trust me on this." He said, looking sincerely upset. His voice cracked, making me realize just how much of a child he is like, and yet how grown-up he seems compared to when I first met him. I sighed and put my hand over his. His grip lessened to the touch.

"I'll be fine, don't worry. I know how to take care of myself. If I'm in any sort of danger, though, I'll call for you. Just wait out here for now, kay? For me." I said, as soothingly as I could. It didn't feel like when I consoled the human child earlier. It felt more like I was patting Aran's or Freud's shoulder after a huge loss in battle.

I could see that Evan didn't like it, but he reluctantly agreed and let my wrist go. I gave him one last half smile before going through the door and closing it behind me. First thing I saw was a huge machine and, beyond that, a portal. Nothing came at me as I crossed to the portal. I took a deep breath, hands at my bowguns, and went through, ready for whatever would be beyond that portal.

Whatever I prepared myself for wasn't nearly enough for what I encountered.

**X-X-X**

I stepped into a bedroom, fancily decorated with a bookcase and a huge red-carpeted platform with a couch, mirror, end table, and magic book on it. It was a bedroom fit for someone like La Tierre, but the owner was far, far worse than the arrogant female I had met earlier.

"Hello Mercedes." She said, smiling cruelly, purple eyes shining from under her Black Wings hat.

"Orchid!" I gasped, staggering back in shock. It was undoubtedly her, just as I had seen her in my dream. Her outfit was a modern version of her old one, white hair tied up in ponytails. She looked older than the last time I had seen her, of course, but I'd recognize my arch enemy anywhere.

"Mmm, how nostalgic that name is. I haven't heard it in so long." She mused, tapping her chin with her purple staff. "No, I don't use that name anymore, my dear Mercedes. I go by Orca now."

"So that's how the Black Wings seem to know so much about me." I glared at her.

"Correct, my friend. I have heard from my little birds that a new, strange hero has emerged from seemingly nowhere. When I heard the description from the townsfolk and mention of elf ears, I knew that dear Elf Queen Mercedes has escaped from her little prison." Orchid smiled in wicked joy. I narrowed my eyes.

"I'm no friend of yours, Orchid. Not after your treachery." I declared. She clicked her tongue.

"Tsk, that was centuries ago, Mercedes. This is the present, where you are one of the most well-known heroes among the Black Wings and I am currently much stronger than you." She flipped her hair. My eyebrow rose.

"Most well-known? So I assume you've been spreading the word."

"Oh yes. I've told my Black Wings everything there is to know about you. I even sent some friends to meet you, but you wounded them." She frowned tauntingly. "You're not very social, are you?"

"So you've been trying to lure me here to fight you, I'm guessing. That's why those rabbit things were at Athena's house." I said, ignoring her statement.

"Ah, I knew you'd catch on. Yes, I tried kidnapping your precious bowgirl master, Athena. However, my disciples messed up and decided to go through her stuff when she wasn't home." She made a face and shook her head. "So hard to find good help these days."

"How are you able to get them to do so? That much work to catch one measly hero, wouldn't people complain?" I asked, once again ignoring what she said about her idiot lackeys.

"Oh, they complained, but they have to obey their boss, after all." Orchid grinned slyly. I blinked, that statement reminding me of what La Tierre told me on the phone. 'My boss has taken a very special interest in you'.

"You're the leader of the Black Wings." I concluded. She smiled in confirmation.

"Yes, Mercedes. I've built the Black Wings organization from the ground-up, working hard to bring back the Black Mage and restore him to his full power. I have a few people working with me. I trust you remember my brother." She smiled when I made a face at the memory of her horrid brother. "But, they all primarily follow my orders."

"How did you know where I was?" I suddenly asked, cutting through her voice. "I haven't told anyone I was in El Nath, or that I left Victoria Island, for that matter. Plus, the location of my town. No one knew about the exact location." She paused for a moment, looking at me curiously, then half smiled coldly.

"That is where you are wrong, Mercedes. One other person DID know where you were, and he, however unknowingly, has told us all about your recent adventures and where you were going next." She nodded to something behind me. I half turned to look.

Everything clicked in my head in a split second. I now knew how Orchid knew I was in El Nath. How she knew where my town was located. How La Tierre said something I knew I had said before. Something I now remember uttering to only one person.

Standing right behind me was Evan and Mir.

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><p><strong>Longest chapter by far ^^* I wanted to at least get this far before ending the chapter. Next one is the battle with Orca, so look forward to that~<strong>

**Little side note, I have a Tumblr now ^^*. Feel free to follow me and ask me questions. The name is msnatty, blog name is Blogging to Blog. For now, there is mostly Hetalia (anime), Lackadaisy (web comic), Gorillaz (band), and some Maplestory picture spam on there, but that's just cuz no one is asking me anything and, therefore, I am bored and have nothing else to do :| I'll be adding the Tumblr info on my bio if you forget it or something.**

**Rate and Review~**


	15. Not so Final Fight

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**Arg, late late LAAAATE update. Sorry, I've been busy this weekend and stuff. No worries, this chapter is here to save your curiousities from exploding ^^*. Hopefully, this chapter and the one after this will make things more clear to you guys on where Evan stands. Obviously, Mercedes herself doesn't know what is going on in his head, so Evan's intentions may be confusing.**

**What may also be confusing is how Evan has been leaking info. Someone already asked about that. Allow me to elaborate quickly: Evan didn't know he was leaking info. Orca said this (she said "unknowingly" when telling Mercedes this). He knows now, clearly. **

**How he has been leaking info? Well, he has been visited by Black Wings members to turn in his items twice, once in Orbis and he went to meet with one before they left El Nath. They asked him about her and, being the goofball he (cannonly) is, told them most of what he knows.**

**What does he know? Well, he knows Mercedes lives somewhere just outside of Ellinia, he knows how accurate her shots are (when they first met, she warned him that she rarely misses, just as La Tierre repeated on the phone), and he told them that she was coming with him to the far reaches of El Nath for one whole day.**

**Don't make the mistake of thinking that he knew this was the work of the Black Wings, either. He didn't know that he was working for them until Orca revealed that he was. More on that in this chapter, which you should be enjoying right now. So go do so~**

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><p><strong>Not-so-final Fight<strong>

I felt very cold. My skin felt like I was encased in ice once again. My blood has been replaced by melted El Nath snow. The only heat that could possibly be produced was by my over-driven brain.

How. Just... how was I supposed to respond to this? To finding out that the one person I considered a friend in this era since Athena has betrayed all my secrets to the Black Wings and, worst of all, the most powerful enemy I've had since the Black Mage himself.

Was I expected to scream? I felt like screaming. Was I expected to break down crying? I could shed a tear or two. Was I expected to shoot everyone full of arrows? God, did I want to do that. However, I thought for a long moment that all I'm able to do now is stand and stare at the boy and dragon in front of me.

Nothing could express my outrage at this. There were no words for the shade of red that I was starting to see. I felt like I was made of stone, my expression as cold as my veins. It felt like centuries have passed, but it was only seconds.

Evan was staring back at me in the meantime, not looking like I had expected. I expected his lips to curl into some variation of a cruel smile, much like the mocking Orchid behind me. This was not so. He looked... confused, and upset.

Something in the back of my head told me there was something not right about his expression. The voice reminded me that Orchid said that Evan had unknowingly been handing over information. It also told me that I had told Evan very little, that Orchid must've sent people to investigate further and that she figured everything out. It was her I should be angry at. I should be giving Evan a chance.

This did not help my resolve. Even if he wasn't the mastermind, he still was telling people about me like I was a silly kids story. Did the boy have no common sense? He should know better than to hand out other people's information like that. He should've told me if people were asking questions or something.

Then again, this was Evan we're talking about. It's already been proven that this boy, smart as he may be, lacked caution to a destructive degree.

"Merc... I..." Evan suddenly began to speak, his voice nothing more than a whisper. I felt my eyebrows crease, the stone cracking.

"...didn't know... The Black Wings... they never reveled themselves... I didn't know... I was working for them. P-please, Merc... you have to believe me..." He choked out, looking pretty terrified and upset with confusion. He looked ready to collapse to the ground and cry into my shoes.

_"It's true, Merc." _Mir suddenly spoke up, looking just as confused and, for the first time, like a true dragon hatchling. _"We never have seen a Black Wings insignia until today and they never told us who they were. We've heard of the Black Wings name said with disdain, but never anything about them. We're so sorry, Merc." _If a dragon could look like it could cry, that's what Mir looked like right now.

Did they expect me to forgive them? I felt like I should. It doesn't change how I feel, though. I was still seeing red, my blood still ran cold, I was still angry. However, Evan was not my target anymore.

As fast as any elf before me, I turned on my heel with bowguns appearing in my hands and shot at the smug-looking Orchid still standing there. I had taken her by surprise and she stumbled back as my arrows kept coming. Before she could recover from them, I dashed forward, a terrible scream ripping through my lungs, and launched her backwards into the opposite wall. Wasting no time, I danced back and grabbed the frozen Evan roughly by the arm.

"Make yourself useful, find the child, and get out of here. We will talk about this once the children are safe." I growled, my voice thick with my murderous intent. He blinked and nodded quickly. I let him go and faced my enemy again.

"Aww, Mercedes, what's the matter? Are you angry?" Orchid sang, though her face full of hatred did not match her tone. She staggered up on her feet, already glowing purple as she summoned her power.

"Now Orchid, why would I be angry at you." I asked rhetorically, glaring back at her and wasting no time in launching more arrows. She barely stumbled this time, though my attacks distracted her from hers. When she caught the opportunity, she shot a few beams at me. Unlike my dream, I was able to dodge them.

"Don't be that way, my friend. Just let me kill you. It will all be over quickly." She said, shooting another beam at me.

"Oh, it will be over quick, you can count on that." I countered, feeling new strength flowing through me. My vision was orange now instead of red and simple direction flowed into my mind as I remembered a power long since forgotten. I jumped upon instinct as high as I could, then began twirling in the air, pressing down on my bowgun triggers. Orange arrows rained down upon their target, surprising her once again.

"What? But you don't get all of your powers until-!" Orchid exclaimed just before I landed on my feet and dashed forward to propel her backwards once again. She slammed into the wall full-force.

"Orchid, you insult me. I'm always full of surprises, remember?" I teased, shooting a few arrows at her. She was still able to move, though, so most of them only grazed the white-haired female. Orchid looked up angrily at me, then at something behind me. I could faintly hear wings beating and hear the door open and something, or someone, ran out. Orchid scowled at me.

"Until next time, Elf Queen. Count on it." She snarled. I lifted myself into the air to shoot down orange arrows again. I felt a few connected, but by then, she had disappeared without a trace. Good, now to get out of here.

**X-X-X**

As I had expected, Evan had escaped with the child. A few Black Wings members made a move to attack me, but La Tierre called them off.

"A deal is a deal. I promised you could leave if you acquire the child and you have. You may pass without problem." She said, waving her hand toward the door reluctantly. I took her up on her offer and went outside. Evan was waiting there with Mir. Sylv was upright and ready for flight with a small child in her saddle. He was a little pudgy with small, beady eyes and, most importantly, elf ears. I climbed up onto the saddle and saw that Evan had the other child sleeping in front of him.

"We'd better get to Edelstein before going to your town, drop this kid off first." Evan said, looking worried. I nodded curtly, but decided not to say anything. Now wasn't the time.

Sylv and Mir rode back to town, dodging the easy monsters along the way with ease until we finally made it. We started looking for Claudine right away. We found her by the steps with her clipboard and lab coat.

"Ah, yes. We got a report a few hours ago that this child was missing." Belle, the police captain and leader of the Wild Hunters, said, carrying the little human child. She nodded to me with a happy wink. "Don't worry, miss. We'll return him safely home." I nodded curtly. Once Belle was gone, Claudine cleared her throat to speak.

"I'm truly sorry about the trouble this caused you. We thought we were monitoring the Black Wings carefully, but it seems that this is not so. We'll pick up security in Edelstein and your town immediately." She said, looking quite sorrowful.

"Thank you, Claudine." I answered plainly.

"So, I've been meaning to ask- where did the Black Wings learn about your whereabouts to steal the child at your home in the first place?" Claudine tilted her head. My lips pressed in a tight line as I thought about how to answer. I glanced over at Evan, who was bowing his head sheepishly. I hesitated before giving my answer.

"An old enemy of mine was still around. She had been feeding them information." I said. Claudine blinked and nodded.

"That's unfortunate." she said, sorrowful. I nodded and we both exchanged goodbyes before I headed to the port. I felt Evan right beside me, but I refused to look at him. My whole body felt like a live wire. The ice in my veins have been replaced with lightning. Something tells me that Evan won't be leaving my side yet.

This is going to be a long ride.

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><p><strong>Sorry if this chapter is short, but that's truthfully all that is to it. I may add more battle to the chapter when I'm remodeling the fic. Maybe.<strong>

**Get excited, because next week's chapter will include... EVAN'S POV! ^^****

**Some of you might be worried because of my terrible OC-ness with Evan, but that's really just in the beginning, when it was through Mercedes' eyes to boot. For some reason, I feel like I can be spot-on with Evan if I was in his own point of view. I still remember his basic actions and ways of talking in the game when talking to Mir and such, but no worries, I will try to prepare even more beforehand. Probably will make an Evan character and observe the dialog or something~**

**Rate and Review!**


	16. Evan Speaks

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**As you guys have seen by your undoubtedly BOOMING email alerts, I have uploaded all the revised chapters to the fic. Everything is in the same order as it was and I managed to change some things without completely screwing up the story, liiike...**

**1) the fillers are now part of other chapters, thus why the fic is so much shorter chapter-wise**

**2) Evan now doesn't have a whole giant blowout in the Orbis Tower.**

**3) The Resistance and Cygnus Knights rivalry is openly explained.**

**4) Any indications that Evan knew about the Black Wings before the run-in with Orca are now gone.**

**If you guys spot anything that I have missed, please tell me. Also, those of you who are now just starting to read the fic, if you see that the reviews are out of proportion with the chapters... well, now you know why ^^; Call it the Great Revise of April 13th.**

**Now we move on to Evan's POV. I dunno how many chapters he'll be speaking. Could be one, could be 5, could be something in between. I haven't decided yet. We'll see how this plays out~**

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><p><strong>Evan speaks<strong>

I have absolutely no idea how long we've been riding the boat, but it feels longer than it should've. I leaned against Mir's belly, feeling like... well, feeling downright awful. Mercedes was all the way across the dock, leaning over the edge and looking out into the sky, back to me. I took a deep breath to say something, but let it right back out. I mean, what could I say? In her eyes, I've betrayed her. She told me all of these things, which were all cryptic and detail-less anyway, and now she finds out that I've been telling random strangers about all of it. Not just any strangers either, but the Black Wings.

I never knew about the Black Wings. I've heard the name, and always spoken with fear and anger. In all this time that I have been out in the world, doing various odd jobs so Mir and I could get stronger, I've never known what the Black Wings were. Let alone that I was working for them. I couldn't help but feel angry. Not at anyone in particular, just myself. I felt like such an idiot. I had always thought that the jobs I've gotten were strange, that the people giving me the assignments were shady, but I took them anyway, I helped them anyway, because I thought it was the right thing to do. Mir and I always questioned ourselves, 'are we doing the right thing?', and we never thought we did. Until now.

While I was feeling horrible and angry at myself, I could feel Mir's thoughts twist in an entirely different direction. Not too long ago, we found out that Mir's race had been wiped out ages ago by the Black Mage. Since he was gone as well, we didn't dwell on the loss. We made-do with the fact that Mir was possibly the last Onyx dragon in existence, though we will continue to look and will never fully accept that he is alone. Now that we know that we've been helping the people who work for the Black Mage, the people who supported the death of his race... It didn't sit right with either of us.

Mir was in a blinding rage. He could barely form words, just jumbles of emotion that filled his head. He was angry, murderous, upset, and I was right there with him. However, neither of us could afford to lose it. We had too much on the line already. I once again looked across the dock at my friend, the strange female we met just 3 days ago.

Honestly, I believed that I've led her on. When she held me at gun-point with her strange crossbows, I didn't know what to think. She thought then that I was part of the Black Wings, that I would betray the Resistance when I offered to go with her. I had told her I wasn't, which was a partial lie. I still remember feeling so confused and wondering who she was talking about, but brushed it off when she looked convinced that I was indeed the good guy. Now that we both found out that I was part of the Black Wings indirectly, I must look like a huge liar.

I still remember when those strangers asked me about Mercedes. I feel so horrible. Even if they weren't suspicious, Merc told me all of those things in confidence. It was wrong to speak a word of it without her permission, but I honestly thought there was nothing important to what she said. She barely said anything anyway. Everything that she told me was like a hidden message I was supposed to piece together into a puzzle, but she only gave me a piece or two and they never fit together. It confused me greatly. I didn't see anything revealing with what she told me.

The Black Wings, it seems, were much smarter than me. They were able to find her town just going off of 'outskirts of Ellinia'. They devised a whole plan to kidnap a child just by knowing she'll be spending a day in El Nath with me. With all the teeny pieces of the puzzle, they found a way to fit it together with pieces they already had that I had lacked. Especially the big chunk of the puzzle in the form of Commander Orca.

It was clear that they knew each other from before. Orca seemed to know everything about Mercedes, revealing that she was telling all of the Black Wings about her. She revealed a lot more to me. I eyed Mercedes for a long time, seeing her in a whole new light. How had I not noticed the strange accent she had, the old way of talking that even Chief Stan or my father didn't possess, her pointy ears, the one-of-a-kind weapons. Mercedes, Master of the Dual Bow guns, Queen of the Elves.

The title sent chills down my spine. I've never heard of any elves, but I assume they're some early form of fairies or something. Still, a queen? It amazed me like nothing ever had before. I've never heard of any queens in the Maple world. There was the dictatorship in Ariant and the Empress of Cygnus, but a real queen? It was unheard of.

However, nothing has changed about Mercedes to me. She was still my friend, a pretty and strange lady he has known for 3 days, with the anger of a Balrog and wit as sharp as a tack. She was the same person that she was when I had met her. And she was now very much angry with me.

I suddenly felt a tap at my shoulder. I looked to see Mir, looking at me. I felt his anger, but I also felt his exasperation. I sighed, knowing what he wanted but feeling very unsure of myself. What if I mess this up?

_Just go talk to her, Evan. You've been mulling this over forever now and the ride will end any minute. It's now or never, master. _Mir said in my head. I blinked at the master part, but sighed. I knew he was right. Taking a deep breath, I stood and walked over to her.

She took no notice of me. She was still staring at the clouds rolling by, hair blowing sideways off her shoulders, a few strands across her face. I put my hands hesitantly on the railing, looking at her for a moment before finally speaking. "Merc."

She didn't respond other than a brief stiffening of her shoulders. I sighed. "Merc, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am. I wasn't thinking. I didn't... I mean, no one ever told me about... I just... I..." I slowly trailed off when she turned her head to look at me, her eyes hard. The blue irises looked like ice.

"You told complete strangers about me." She said dully. Her words stung me, though.

"I know, and I'll always regret that, for the rest of my life, but you have to believe me, I didn't know that it would cause all of this to happen!" I said. Her expression didn't change one bit. She just stared at me for a long while before letting out a bitter chuckle.

"I don't blame you as much as I blame myself. I was the one who trusted a child." She said, making my heart sink. She turned back to look out into the sky. I felt really upset now, and that drove me to reach over and grab her by the upper arms to turn her my way. She looked really shocked for a long moment before looking outraged. Before she could protest however, I cut her off.

"Look, I know I screwed up and let you down, but I have been nothing but the best friend I could be to you. Sure, I haven't told you everything about myself or you about yourself, _your highness_-" Her breath hitched in her throat when I said that. "-but I've been looking past that. I have not been trying to pry no matter how many times I've seen you dance around the truth. I've been helping you for the past 3 days, saving you back at Athena's, showing you the Resistance, helping you save that child, showing you parts of the world you've never seen before. You have not made the mistake in trusting me. I made the mistake in trusting those Black Wings. Okay? It's them we should be angry at, not each other."

I paused to let her arms go and take a deep breath. She stayed rooted in her spot, lips tightly pursed, eyes just slightly less hard. I could feel my eyes burn, but I couldn't break down just yet. I still had more to say. "Please, forgive me for my mistakes, Mercedes. Don't be angry with me. You have been my only friend besides Mir. I-I know I've only known you for a short time, but I still don't want to lose you as a friend."

I let out a shaky sigh after a moment, ending my statement there, waiting for her response. Mercedes didn't move for a long time, didn't speak, nor did she ever look away from me. Her eyes were slowly melting from their hardness into something softer, and I could tell she was trying hard not to blink.

"Y-you've got some nerve, boy." She finally said, breathing uneven. That was her unraveling. She closed her eyes and let the tears fall, shoulders shaking. Without any further thought, I stepped up and wrapped my arms around them, hugging her close. She let out soft sobs through her nose.

"I-I'm sorry, Evan. You're r-right. I sh-shouldn't be angry with y-you. It wasn't y-your fault." She murmured, resting her face in my shoulder. I could feel the tears seep through my robe and hugged her tighter.

"I've already forgiven you. I only hope that you forgive me." I murmured, feeling my own tears threatening to fall. I felt her head nod.

"M-mmhm." She managed to hum out, still crying into my shoulder. I don't know how long we stood like this, but I managed to stay collected. Relief washed over me. We were going to be okay. I just know it. As if it was planned, the ship began to slow as we reached our destination. I glanced over at Mir, who was watching us with happiness, then at the sleeping unicorn of Mercedes, Sylv, who guarded the equally sleeping child. Gently, I nudged Mercedes and stood back to look at her. She had calmed, eyes and face red from crying.

"It's time to bring the child back. You ready?" I gently asked. She nodded hesitantly. I nodded and began to walk to Sylv to wake her up when I felt a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

"Evan." Mercedes said, her voice smooth once again. I looked at her over my shoulder. She had a determined look on her face, as if reaching a decision of some sort.

"Yes?" I asked curiously. She took a deep breath, like I had when I came to her to apologize.

"I'm ready." She said simply. I blinked, waiting for her to say more.

"Ready for what?" I finally asked when she didn't say anything. She pursed her lips again.

"Ready to tell you everything about me. It's time you finally knew the truth."


	17. Secrets Revealed: Mercedes

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**Hey! Sorry for being so late with this. Procrastinating isn't fun when you know you have people waiting for you :[**

**I'm here now, though, and with this new chapter. It's so shiny and new! Yay~**

**I'd like to take a moment to thank some of my reviewers. You guys are so nice ^^* I apologize for all of the confusion with the chapters and I hope you guys are happy with the layout I have now created for the chapters. I've been getting a lot of praise for this fic and, for that, I thank you.**

**I also want to note that I will probably be adding stuff to the earlier chapter. Maybe some more detail. I was still getting a feel for Evan while writing it, so it was a lot shorter than intended.**

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter. It's still going to be in Evan's POV. Stories shall be told! Woot woot!**

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><p><strong>Secrets Reveled: Mercedes<strong>

"I was born a few thousand years ago." Mercedes began, walking alongside me and looking thoughtful into the distance. We had already gotten off the boat, ignored the driver's questioning gaze at how upset Mercedes look and how jumpy I was, and were walking through Ellinia. Mercedes and I were side-by-side, with Mir and Sylv behind us. Mir was actively listening to us. Sylv was strangely quiet however.

My shock at this statement must've shown, because Mercedes cracked a smile when she looked at me.

"At that time, everything you know of the Maple world was very different. Towns like the ones in Victoria didn't exist, elves lived and faeries did not. The original Heroes were still alive... and the Black Mage was a constant threat." She frowned at the memory of a probably awful past.

"Original Heroes? Did you know them?" I tried changing the subject. I didn't want her to think too much about the Black Mage. We had enough of him for today as it is. It seemed to work. She smiled warmly, but still a little sadly.

"Yes, I knew them very well. We fought together many times." She said with a soft sigh.

"That must've been great, fighting with the 5 Heroes." I said excitedly. I could feel Mir's fascination as well. Mercedes looked at me with a strange look that I couldn't place. After a long moment, she smiled once again and looked forward.

"Yeah... it was..." She said slowly. I felt confused, but she began speaking again before I could ask. "At that time, my people were still thriving and I was born princess of them all. My parents long since died and everything fell to me to control. I roamed the world, getting strong, meeting friends, and resisting the rule of the Black Mage. He ruled with an iron fist and I and my friends agreed that this must stop. So, we began to rise up against him."

_"This started the 5 Heroes?"_ Mir wondered. Merc nodded.

"Yes. Each had their grand skills that they were the best at. They all rose up to build their armies and take on the Black Mage."

"I've heard much about the 5 Heroes. I once heard there was one like me, who had dragon mage powers." I said, glancing at Mir. "He had the most powerful Onyx dragon in the land."

"Freud and Afrien." Mercedes said, looking down with shaded eyes. "When I first saw you, I thought I was seeing my dear old friends again. When I quickly realized that you weren't him, I... I got angry and ashamed."

"And that's why you pulled your bowguns on me." I concluded. She nodded slowly, looking guilty.

"I was still so alone in this world. I had been encased in ice for thousands of years and came to a place where so much had changed. I longed to see my friends again, but I now know that isn't possible anymore." She said, breath hitching for a moment but she calmed swiftly.

"Encased in ice?" I wondered, changing the subject again. She nodded and wasted no time in explaining.

"When the final battle with the Black Mage came, we stood strong against him and his subordinates. We faced one each and fell back one at a time. In the meantime, the Black Mage was working on a spell. We managed to defeat his minions and raced to meet him. We wounded him, but he still managed to land a fatal blow on Freud." She had to pause to take a breath, during which time I processed all of that. A fatal blow? Something about that didn't sound right.

"He blew us all back, intending to kill us, but only managed to curse us. We were to be frozen in time so the Black Mage could get what he wanted." She continued. I tilted my head.

"What did he want?" I asked. She looked at me solemnly, then at Mir.

"He wanted Afrien. He wanted to be bonded to him instead of Freud being bonded to him. Afrien refused and the Black Mage came at us with every intention of stealing Afrien away. I'm guessing he hid Mir's egg before the Black Mage caught up to him." She looked away again. I was frozen on the inside. He recalled that the Black Mage wiped out the Onyx dragon race. Why would he do that if he wanted one of them. I was about to ask when Mir spoke first.

_"Merc, you keep saying 'we', but the legends all say there were only 5 Heroes..." _He trailed off questionably. Mercedes looked at him with that strange expression she had earlier with me.

"How much do you guys know about the 5 Heroes?" She asked softly. Mir and I looked at each other.

"We know there was one for each class. A mage, a warrior, a thief, a bow master, and a pirate." I answered. She nodded slowly.

"The Heroes are well-known for their unique ways in their individual classes. Freud the mage used the power of an Onyx dragon. Aran the warrior used a polearm with a powerful spirit inhabiting it. Phantom the thief used cards that captured individual skills. The bow master, well, she was the best that could be found from a race that masters the art of shooting arrows." A smile played at her lips as her bowguns appeared in her hands. Mir and I blinked in shock as we got what she said.

"Y-you're..." I couldn't finish. She looked me straight in the eye with a solemn look.

"I wasn't just a friend to the Heroes, Evan and Mir. I was one of the them. I was there to fight the Black Mage and I took a direct hit from the curse. I watched my friends disappear from sight as they also got hit and were blown back to a totally different location than I. I may have been born a Queen of Elves and trained to be the last remaining user of the Dual Bowguns, but the legend I have become made me who I am today. I'm a Hero of Maple, the bow master."

**X-X-X**

A long moment past without us saying a thing. I was still trying to process this. Mercedes was an actual Hero of Maple? She was an infamous legend who took down the Black Mage? I felt quite overwhelmed standing so close to someone like this. I felt much like when I found out she was the Queen of the Elves. This meant that she was not only older than what I made her out to be, but more powerful.

"If you're a Hero, you must be quite powerful. Why did you have the same amount of difficulty as I did in El Nath?" I wondered. She snorted under her breath.

"When I awoke from the ice, it had apparently weakened me. I was no more powerful than a beginner." She said scornfully. I frowned.

"Oh..."

"I haven't lost touch with my roots, of course. I managed to get decently powerful in a matter of a few days. I had awoken from the ice at least a few weeks ago when we met." She said with a small smile. My eyebrow rose in amazement. It had taken me much longer to get as powerful as I was now. The subject of power suddenly made me remember something.

"Um, if the Black Mage wanted Afrien, why did he wipe out the Onyx dragon race?" I asked. She turned to look at me in shock.

"Where did you hear that?" She asked. I blinked. Mir answered before I had.

_"We've been looking for more of my kind and we heard from an old source that the Black Mage wiped them all out." _Mir's face scrunched up angrily at the thought of that information. Mercedes frowned.

"That's... confusing. I had no clue that the Black Mage had done that. It's likely, though, that the Black Mage killed them in fury from Afrien's rejection." Mercedes shrugged, clearly unsure by this theory. I nodded nonetheless, though, because that's the only theory that made sense. I was lost in thought for a long time, it seemed, because she was staring at me when I looked up again.

"What's wrong?" I wondered, feeling a little self-conscious. She smiled softly.

"I just didn't expect you to be so understanding of this. All this time, I danced around your questions and felt cautious about what I said and did, because I thought you would think I was crazy." She said very softly. I thought about that for a while.

"I think, if I hadn't seen all that I have seen while on my adventure with you, Merc, I WOULD think you were crazy. Based on everything that I have seen, everything I've heard while with you, it all makes more sense to me than anything I could've come up with the past 3 days." I said with a small smile."Right now, I don't believe you're crazy. I believe you are the strongest person I know to have gone through all of this and still managed to survive." She blinked, looking startled, then seemed to blush and look away. For some reason, that made me feel a little giddy inside.

"Thank you, Evan. For everything." She murmured, looking like she wanted to give me a hug, but seeming to hold back. I reached out to grab her hand for a moment instead.

"Your welcome." I said, giving her hand a squeeze before letting it go. I could feel her squeezing back just slightly. Soon enough, we were back to walking in silence as my scattered brain tried to comprehend what just happened. Where had that come from? And what was this that I was so suddenly feeling? This very alien feeling. It made me want to shy away, yet come closer. So weird...

"It's your turn." She suddenly said, sounding strangely absentminded. I blinked.

"Huh?" I asked, confused for a moment. She let out a tiny chuckle and smiled at me. Her eyes had cute little crinkles at the corners. I shook my head just slightly. Where had that come from?

"I've told you everything about me, Evan. Now, it's your turn. Please, tell me more about yourself." I blinked and smiled. Well, who was I to disappoint her?


	18. Secrets Revealed: Evan

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**GAH! 3 WEEK HIATUS! I'm so sorry, guys. Life caught up to me, made me sick, dropped school work on me, gave me writers block, etc. Thank god summer vacation is coming up. I'll have much more time to write.**

**Thank you for all the reviewers who were persistent on me coming back ^^* You guys made sure that, no matter what I had to do, I still remembered to think about this. So ta-da, new chapter just for you!**

**If this chapter ends up being short, I may merge it with the previous chapter before uploading the next chapter. I might. No guarantees. Also, I think this will be the last chapter where Evan speaks, for the moment. Mercedes comes back to the reins next chapter.**

**Well, that's it for my words. Enjoy Evan's while they last~**

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><p><strong>Secrets Revealed: Evan<strong>

Mercedes and I continued walking while I collected my thoughts. I began to get a little nervous. She was looking sideways at me, waiting for me to start my story. This made me a little anxious, like speaking in public. Her story was full of adventure and scandal. Mine was, admittedly, boring. What am I supposed to tell her?

_Just tell her the truth, Evan. Let it come from your heart._ I heard Mir say. I glanced back to look up at him as he hovered behind me next to Sylv. Sylv seemed to be speaking to Mercedes as well, because she was looking at her with a faraway gaze. I wanted to grumble, but I knew Mir was right. Mercedes needed to hear this. The time for secrets has passed.

"I was... born on a farm." I started hesitantly. Mercedes looked up, startled. I hoped it was because I had spoken so suddenly, but I blushed anyway. "Just at the outskirts of Henesys. I lived there all my life, only going into town for supplies with my dad or my brother." I glanced at her just as a flash of understanding crossed her face. I didn't understand it.

"Sounds like a peaceful life." She said with a wry smile. It hit me then: she wasn't looking for an impressive story of adventure. She just wanted to understand me better. I made a face when I felt how smug Mir was. He was right all along. So annoying.

"It was boring, for the most part. I craved to go out there for an adventure, like the ones you've had." I said. I wasn't sure if that was true, though. My previous life felt like a blur now. I blinked when she tensed at my words.

"You don't know what you're asking, Evan. It's one thing to hear my story, it's another entirely to live it. It's true that I had friends and some fun on my journeys way back when, but none of that matters when you're about to lose someone you love or are fighting into exhaustion or even death. I've been that way since I was born, because the Black Mage was at his peak back then and the elves were notorious fighters. I envy your childhood. I wish I would've grown up on a peaceful farm somewhere, unaware of the world outside." She glared at the ground as she spoke, pursing her lips in jealousy. I frowned and slowly reached out to grab her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Merc. I didn't mean to offend you." I said meekly. She sighed and looked at me in an almost exasperated way. I don't blame her. We have been in this position since we met- something bad is said, someone is offended. We've been dancing around each other too long.

"It's alright, Evan. I know you didn't mean to." She half smiled. "Please, continue your story."

"R-right." I said, quickly retrieving my hand. "Um, well, I was sent out to bring back a pig that had escaped when I fell into a pit i had never seen before. I woke up in a strange forest area, where there was a huge egg." I glanced at her when I noticed her nodding to herself.

"Afrien's barrier around the egg had weakened, just like my defenses around my town. That's why you've never seen the pit." She said. I blinked in confusion.

"Barrier?"

"A magical barrier to keep out outsiders. I cast one just before I froze around my town. Afrien would've done the same to protect Mir's egg." She explained. I nodded and snickered once at Mir's mental _whew_. Mercedes tilted her head.

"What's so funny?" She wondered. I snickered again and shrugged.

"Mir and I are just relieved to know that." I said. Merc smiled and snickered a bit as well before urging me to continue. I began to tell her everything- Mir hatching, finding him food, how everyone didn't seem to recognize him as a dragon, looking for adventure.

"Mir was the one who enitiated the want for adventure. He wanted to get out there and run around and help people. He was an eager little dragon back then." I teased. Mir nipped my shoulder lightly as Mercedes laughed.

"I think that's a part of the breed. I remember a few dragons acting that way when I visited Afrien and Freud. Afrien himself was like that at times." I nodded, looking at her and expected her to cry or something, but she just smiled in nostalgia. I took that as a sign for me to continue and I went on. I told her about running into a mysterious man who gave us the remainder of our assignments, a man who I now know is from the Black Wings.

"He was probably a general for the Black Wings. He seemed pretty high up there. He asked me for everything that I had gone with you to get, but he sent others to retrieve it instead of coming in person. He only came in person before we left El Nath. His name was Hiver or something." I shrugged. She looked just as clueless as I did. He probably came after her time.

"It wasn't until later that he told us that he was a part of a group. He never told me the name." I frowned in despair. "There wasn't a minute where I didn't feel suspicious, Merc, I swear. I kept asking myself, 'are we doing the right thing?'" She smiled and patted my shoulder.

"I already told you that I forgive you. You were right earlier- it's the Black Wings who are at fault and it is them that I am going to blame." I smiled and she withdrew her hand, urging me to tell her more. I told her about mine and Mir's personal quest to find the remaining Onyx dragons.

"We have reason to believe that they might still be alive and in hiding. There's an island that we heard of that is rumored to be the last place they were." I told Mercedes in excitement. She looked troubled.

"Hmm, perhaps. The Black Mage is known for being thorough, though." She said sadly. "I wouldn't get my hopes up." I eyed her, and I felt Mir eying her as well.

"We have to keep our hopes up, Elf Queen." I startled her by using that title. "_We refuse to believe that all the Onyx dragons are dead. I'm alive, after all." _Mir finished off for me. We both had that feeling of determination bubbling up. The Onyx dragons are still alive. They had to be. She stared at us for a little longer before nodding.

"Alright, then that's where we'll go to next." She smiled. I grinned in excitement.

"Really? You'll come along? You won't leave?" I couldn't contain my happiness. I truly thought she would leave as soon as we got to Henesys. She smiled and shook her head.

"I'll stay by your side a little longer, Evan. You interest me too much, and I need all the friends I can get."

"Then I'm your guy!" I grinned. She laughed softly, then paused in her walking. I paused as well and noticed we had made it to Henesys already. I swept my arm out in a playful gentlemanly manner. "After you, my queen." Her eyebrow rose at me before she straightened up and walked past me with her head held high. I laughed, knowing she was toying with me as well.

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><p><strong>All the Evan quest facts came from Basilmarket. Let me know if I got anything wrong. Ah, it's good to be back. Rate and Review!<strong>


	19. The Meeting of the Alliance

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory**

**An early update for my readers still hanging around in celebration of summer. Woot woot! I actually wrote this chapter during my remaining time after I took my finals. It's pretty good, if I do say so myself (and hopefully long enough to make up for the last chapter). Mercedes is back to narrating for this chapter.**

**I'd like to take a moment to thank my readers. You've all kept me going and inspired me to no end. To the new readers, I thank you for your interest and hope you will stick around. To my readers since the very beginning, I'm glad you love the story so much and I hope you'll stick around 'till the very end. Please continue reviewing and giving me advice and/or opinions. Your thoughts mean the world to me.**

**Now then, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

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><p><strong>The Meeting of the Alliance<strong>

My head was spinning with information. This entire trip we took to Henesys was hard on both of us, because we had to open up like never before. But now, we had gained mutual understanding. He knows why I did the things I did, and his own actions made more sense to me. He didn't happen by this lifestyle by accident or go looking for it. He was chosen by fate, just as the rest of us had. He was suited for the role of the heroes. I was happy to have met him and to continue accompanying him. I could tell that he was happy as well.

I couldn't shake off what he told me, however. The Black Mage wiping the Onyx dragons out, for one. His whole goal was gaining Afrien and becoming more powerful. If Afrien survived, then the Black Mage should've captured him. That was what I feared happened and was happy to know didn't happen before the Black Mage was cursed. Him wiping out the Onyx dragons made no sense to me.

The Black Wings were also on my mind. I sighed. No doubt they'll be coming after us again. We humiliated the founder and general and I am still a threat to the Black Mage. We haven't seen the last of them.

This didn't seem to concern Evan, though. I looked at him as we walked through Henesys. He was still bouncing around and babbling to me and Mir and occasionally Sylv, who has been musing over her new found friendship with the enemy of her race. She had never not feared dragons of any race. She was even afraid of Afrien, but he wasn't insulted by that in the least.

The boy and his dragon didn't have a care in the world right now. They were too excited about going to the Onyx dragon's last sighting, an uncharted island only accessible by a boat in Lith Harbor. I've never heard of such a place. If the Onyx dragons were last sighted there, it's possible that that is where Afrien took refuge when the Black Mage unleashed his wrath.

My thoughts were interrupted when I realized that we had reached Athena's house. I went to knock, but someone opened the door at that moment. It wasn't Athena, as expected, but one of the Cygnus Knights trainers, the Dawn Warrior Mikhail.

"Oh, hello Mercedes. Perfect timing, Athena was about to call you." The Knight said brightly. He glanced at Evan curiously.

"What's going on?" I asked, frowning. What was a Cygnus Knight doing way out here in Victoria?

"Empress Cygnus is in a meeting for the Alliance." He answered.

"Alliance?" I frowned deeper in confusion. I looked at Evan, who looked even more confused than I.

"Come inside, everything will be explained." He opened the door and gestured for me to come in. I walked in, closely followed by Evan and Mir. Sylv told me she preferred to stay outside. I was not prepared for what I walked in on. A crowd of people was gathered in the single room. I recognized some more Cygnus Knights trainers, as well as Resistance and Victoria Island trainers. I saw the Dark Lord hanging from the ceiling next to the crouching Night Walker trainer, Grendel the Really Really Old hovering by Athena's desk, etc.

In the middle of it all, there was a table where the leaders sat. Claudine in her Resistance disguise, Empress Cygnus, and Athena. There was also a woman who I didn't recognize, with light blue hair and a fur coat, and someone with a hint of white hair next to her with their back to us, hidden by the chair. Mikhail went to stand with the other Cygnus Knights. Claudine was the first to notice me, the others talking amongst themselves and Athena dialing a number on her phone. She smiled at me.

"Ah, I thought you two would've come here before me." At her words, the others looked up at us. Athena sighed in relief and put her phone away.

"Oh, thank god. I thought you guys got lost or something. Claudine told us you were on your way here." She said. Empress Cygnus gave us a wilting smile. She still looked very weak and beautiful nonetheless. I could tell things were tense with her, though. I suspect being near Claudine is the case.

"Oh, Mercedes, this is the representative for a Pepe island south of Victoria, Rien." Athena gestured to the blue-haired girl. She smiled kindly.

"Please to meet you. My name is Lilin." Evan and I said our hellos to everyone at the table.

"Oh, and this is-" Athena began, gesturing to the person next to Lilin.

"I think Mercedes would recognize old friends if she saw them." The person, a male, cut her off. He slowly stood and turned to face us. His skin was lightly tanned and he had a contrasting shock of white hair slicked into a Mohawk. His eyes were a light ice blue. He wore leather warrior armor, much like the armor I wore in El Nath, perfect for the biting cold. He had a gold, black, and red polearm strapped to his back.

I stared at him in shock. There was no mistaking him. He changed a little since I had last seen him, but I'd recognize that face, that smile, anywhere. Evan, as clueless as ever, smiled brightly and stuck out his hand while I stood stiff as cardboard.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Evan." He introduced himself. My old friend smiled back and shook Evan's hand.

"Nice to meet 'ya, Evan. I'm Aran."

**X-X-X**

It was a little comical to watch Evan be utterly shocked to know that it was indeed Aran he had just shook hands with. I wish we had time to catch up, but Claudine kindly reminded us that we were in a meeting. Evan and I took our seats while Athena explained to us and everyone what this was about.

"Since we are all aligning ourselves with the same people, I have proposed we make one huge Alliance, where the people of Victoria Island, Edelstein's Resistance, the Cygnus Knights, and the Heroes band together against the Black Mage and his Black Wings. We will train our armies together and march into battle under the Heroes, who are, as of this point, Aran, Mercedes, and Evan. We must also help pave the way for the remaining two Heroes when they emerge."

There was silence as everyone processed this appeal. Claudine was the first to speak.

"I hope you realize how strained the relationship between the Resistance and the Cygnus Knights is, Athena." She pointed out. Athena nodded seriously.

"I'm well aware, Claudine. I don't suppose you could look past that?" She asked hopefully. The silence that followed was answer enough.

"Just avoid each other, then. Do as you normally would. It makes no difference if you interact or not." Aran said with a shrug. The Empress nodded and sighed tiredly.

"I am willing to forgive and forget for the sake of defeating the Black Mage." She said with utmost certainty, looking down at the table. Athena looked at Claudine for an answer. The masked leader grimaced.

"As long as we don't cross paths and you don't cause us any more trouble, I'll accept this." She said. A few Knights grumbled about her insulting words, but nodded anyway. Athena nodded as well, happy with this result. She then looked at us Heroes in turn.

"And you three?" She asked, her gaze landing on Aran first. Lilin and Aran exchanged glances before nodding.

"We accept." Aran said. Athena looked at me.

"My lady?" She asked respectively. I nodded.

"I accept as well. As long as plans don't change." I said in confidence. Athena and I looked at Evan, who was discussing things with Mir. He finally looked back at us.

"We also accept." Athena grinned wider at this, then banged her fist on the table.

"When it is settled. On this day, the Alliance has been established!" She announced. Everyone in the room cheered.

**X-X-X**

Once things quieted down, Athena sat and Claudine stood.

"Two more things must be taken care of before we depart." She announced. "Firstly, the Heroes. I propose that you three travel together as a group, so we can easily contact you and so you don't get yourselves into trouble by being alone and possibly outmatched. Any objections?" No one said anything. She smiled as she hit the table, the way Athena did earlier. I guess they didn't have a gavel. "Then it is settled! Next item, our newest Hero, Evan. He has recently been working for the Black Wings."

There were suddenly murmurs floating around the room and people staring disdainfully at Evan. He flushed red. "I didn't know they were Black Wings!" He protested.

"How does one not recognize a Black Wings when they see one?" Someone growled out. Everyone began shouting things until Claudine called to order.

"Now, now, don't jump to conclusions. The Black Wings are known for deceiving people and Evan really is as new to the Maple world as our newly-thawed heroes here." She said. I felt insulted by her words, but I didn't say anything. In the least, they calmed the people down. "Now, I didn't bring this up because I wanted you to lash out at Evan. I bring it up because his time with the Black Wings could provide us with necessary information that could help us prepare for what they are planning to do."

Athena turned to look at Evan. "Evan, is there anything you could tell us?" Evan frowned in thought as Mir cocked his head and tried to remember back, their minds one for a little while.

"Well, the jobs they gave me were random. They made me get rope and teeth, which Mercedes helped me with." All eyes looked at me. I turned red.

"A-anything else?" I urged. Evan didn't notice my embarrassment and thought further.

"Well, they made me make and use growth accelerant on some plants." He admitted. A small gasp was uttered. We looked over to see Lilin with her hand clasped over her mouth and Aran staring at Evan with a strange look in his hardened eyes.

"You were the one who used growth accelerant in Orbis?" He slowly asked. Evan blinked, confused.

"Uh... yes. They didn't tell me why I had to do it, though." Evan shrugged a little, eying Aran and his strange expression. There was a long tense pause as they stared at each other. Then, as if by some cue, Aran jumped over the table and tackled Evan to the ground.

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><p><strong>Ooo, Aran is piiiiisssseed. Heh, yep, Aran finally arrives. Please note, I am using the commercial look for Aran, not any customized look (except maybe for any future clothes). Meh, this chapter was longer on paper. 8 pages long. Computer, you disgrace my expectations. Sigh. Ah well. Please let me know if I got any info messed up. Rate and Review!<strong>


	20. The History of Mercedes and Aran

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**Sorry I haven't updated in so long. v.v Summer is starting to affect my ability to remember to update. I'm done with finals (passing grades) and I'm already on break. I'm essentially a lazy person when it comes to vacations. Reviews usually help me remember :] Just saying~**

**Shoutout to my anon reviewer 'someone'! Your email does not show up in the review, bro :\ and you're an anon so I cannot reply to you, but yes, you have my permission to use whatever you wish from my story, but I only give YOU permission. No one else. And I want full credit for my part as well as a notification on where it is when it's finished. If I find out it's been created and put up but I haven't been notified, I will find it and I will email the people of the host site about plagiarism. Full seriousness here. I wanna know where it is once it's done.**

**Now that that bit is said, another lovely regular to this story notified that I got a little tidbit about Aran and Evan wrong. For the record, it was a growth accelerant that Evan used and that messed things up for Aran. When I put this chapter up, I'll go back and fix that right away.**

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><p><strong>The History of Aran and Mercedes<strong>

"Aran!"

"Aran, get off of him!"

"Oh no!"

"Shit!"

"Break them up, quick!"

Everyone was shouting at once as they watched Aran tackle Evan and wrap his hands around his neck to throttle him, pressing him down to the ground. Evan's eyes were wide with shock and confusion, slowly gasping for air and trying to shove Aran off. Everyone was frozen in place with shock while the people closest to the pair jumped into action.

Mikhail the Dawn Warrior grabbed Aran by the arms and pried him off Evan to hold him back. I slid in between and kneeled over Evan while pointing by bowgun at Aran in warning. Mir crouched at Evan's head and growled and snarled at Aran. The Empress and Athena dashed to us while Claudine called for order. Lilin ran over to us as well.

"Aran, what's the matter with you?" Athena exclaimed, checking Evan for any injuries as he sat up and regained his breath.

"Evan, you alright?" I called from over my shoulder, keeping my eyes at Aran.

"I-I'm alright." Evan coughed, rubbing his neck.

"Explain yourself, Hero!" Mikhail ordered. Aran scowled and tried to shake the Knight off.

"That _**idiot **_completely screwed me over! That growth accelarent he used completely messed up an assignment of mine! I thought it was the work of the Black Wings and-!" He snarled.

"And it WAS." I interrupted, putting my bowgun away and facing Aran down with a scowl of my own. "The Black Wings ordered Evan to do that. He didn't know of the consequences."

"It doesn't matter if he knew or not, he did it! He deserves to be punished!" Aran spat back.

_"Not on my watch!" _Mir snarled, smoke puffing out of his nostrils.

"Or mine." I said with confidence. Aran looked at us both back and forth, then looked down at Evan, then back at me with a bitter smile.

"Once again, we find ourselves in a deadlock, dear Mercedes." He murmured. I narrowed my eyes at him, but his words stung. Indeed, we had just reunited and now we're fighting again, just as we had before the fight against the Black Mage. "I don't think you understand the severity of what he did." Aran continued, loud enough so everyone could hear. "Because of this child's actions, the Black Wings have the Seal Stone of Ludibrium!"

There was a collective shock running through the room. Almost everyone gasped and stared at Evan. The leaders got a very serious look and Mikhail even released Aran to step away from Evan. I frowned in confusion and, when I looked back at Evan, he was doing the same. "Athena, explain." I turned to look at her, extremely worried by the hard look on her face.

"No one is really sure what the Seal Stones are used for, but there is one for every town and the Black Wings are after them at a vigorous pace. We have reason to believe that it has to do with the resurrection of the Black Mage, else the Black Wings wouldn't be so interested." Athena said solemnly. I stared at her, frowning.

"We aren't sure of that, though."

"And now we never will be." Aran grumbled. Murmurs filled the room. I felt Evan stand up behind me and turned to look at him. He looked like he was going to cry.

"Alright, everyone relax!" Claudine exclaimed. After a bit, everyone calmed down and fell silent. "Like we have established before, Evan has made mistakes. The Black Wings are known for deception and they have all gotten to the best of us. The best thing to do is to calm down and think rationally."

"She's right." Athena said, looking around the room. "Now that we know this, we can use it to our advantage. We know they have the Ludi Seal Stone. Now we have to get it back and make sure to find the other Seal Stones so we can protect them. Maybe we can even figure out their plans along the way!"

"In the meantime," the Empress said, her voice soft and sad. "the Heroes must stay together and train and investigate matters before the final battle." There was a pause before sounds of agreement sounded from everywhere. The leaders nodded.

"**NO!**" Aran's voice rang out. "I am not traveling with this guy! I refuse to associate with ANYONE from the Black Wings." He glared at Evan, who flinched. Mir snarled at him. I was about to yell back when Evan stepped in front of me to glare back at Aran. He didn't look very scary, though. He looked like a mouse trying to face down a cat.

"I said I was sorry. I regret everything that I did for the Black Wings! Why can't you just forgive me and remember that I am not the enemy here! The enemy we all have to face is the Black Mage and his Black Wings! Don't direct your hatred and waste your energy on me! I am not who you are angry at!" He shouted, his voice faltering every so often. Aran stared at him, brow furrowing. Everyone else was very taken aback by Evan's speech. I softened a little. It sounded like the speech he gave to me.

Nothing surprised me more at that moment than hearing Aran chuckle. I eyed him. He looked amused, but every inch of him radiated bitter anger. "Impressive speech, little boy. A'ight, fine, we have the same common enemy and that's who we will fight." He agreed. Evan started to smile a little, then Aran leaned in. Only Evan and I heard what he said. "It will take a lot more than a pretty speech to make me forgive you. Watch your back." Aran leaned away. There was a painful silence before I cleared my throat.

"It's settled, then. We'll be traveling together." I smiled. It felt painful on my face.

**X-X-X**

The Alliance meeting disbanded after a while after the Leaders rephrased the main points of the meeting. Everyone either teleported or left to catch boats to their individual towns. Aran said good bye to Lilin and I to Athena before we left together with Evan and Mir. We met Sylv, who I had filled in on the situation once the meeting was over, outside. She nodded politely to Aran.

"Do you have a ride?" I asked him, wondering if I should let him ride Sylv while I ran. I was about to offer, but he nodded and raised his hand to his mouth to whistle. From around the corner came a light grey wolf, teeth glinting and a saddle on its back. Sylv freaked out, shrieking and flying back to get away from the wolf. I grabbed her and forced her to keep calm. Aran flashed me an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. He's perfectly harmless." He petted his wolf's head and mounted its saddle. Evan and Mir were already set, eying the wolf incredulously. I managed to calm Sylv enough to mount her saddle. We made sure all of our items were on us and we were on our way.

At the meeting, the leaders have already given us an assignment: to get as strong as possible as well as keep our eyes peeled for more Seal Stones. To kill two birds with one stone, we've decided to visit Mu Lung, which was Aran's next destination for finding the stolen Seal Stones. This required going to Orbis and catching a Crane. Of course, while Aran and probably Evan knew this, I was very confused.

"I felt the same when I woke up out of the ice, too. When I say 'crane', I mean the animal. A stork, actually. It's a bird that is primarily used to carry passengers like the normal boats, except it can only carry a person one at a time." Aran explained later, looking amused. I felt a little annoyed at the fact that he lost his memories and still knew more than I did. Speaking of which...

"Do you have your memories of your previous life back?" I asked. Aran chuckled lightly and scratched his head.

"Um, a bit? Some things are still a little fuzzy. I remember you a little, and Freud. I remember leading my army to fight the Black Mage. Anything before that..." He let the sentence hang there, but I knew what was next. He didn't remember anything else. He probably doesn't remember Phantom. He obviously remembers our fight from before the battle. Just my luck. I glanced away to look at Evan, who was flying on Mir beside me. I found it appropriate to ride between the men. Neither of them seemed to mind. Evan seemed strangely quiet, however.

I was about to ask him why he was so quiet when I noticed the sun setting. "Guys, we should start setting up camp." They both looked at me absentmindedly and nodded. We went a little further ahead until we were at the tree boat station and we went into Ellinia forest for some cover from the monsters. The occasional slime bounced along, but Mir was happy to scare them away. We brought out the equipment necessary for camping and Evan and Aran put themselves in charge of setting up while I was to get firewood.

"Don't kill each other, please." I warned. Aran laughed heartily and Evan flashed me a nervous look. I smiled back, assuring him that it'll be fine, and went to collect the wood. I got a good amount before returning to them so they would start the fire. They had already built the pit, so I threw in the sticks and twigs before leaving to get more. It took a little longer than expected and a few dead branches had to be snapped off of trees before I deemed the pile in my arms big enough to return with. I could see the fire had been lit and it's crackling filled the otherwise silent night. I slowed my walk, the branches a little heavy in my arms, when I suddenly heard voices carrying from the camp.

"-iss being at home. We used to have campfires many times like this when I was little." Evan's voice carried to my ears. I cocked my head to the side. I was quite a distance away. Maybe the silence of the rest of the woods makes it easier to hear?

"You miss your family?" I heard Aran say. I paused, rocking back on my heels, hesitant to break up the conversation. This was the first time these two talked since the fiasco at the meeting.

"Yes... but what would you know about that? You've always been alone, according to legend." Evan's voice was soft and a little hard to hear that time. I could just barely hear Aran's sigh. I stepped a little closer, wanting to hear more against my better judgement.

"You're right Evan, I never had a family," he began. "I was betrayed once and I didn't think I could trust anyone again. So I walked through the world alone."

"Who betrayed you?" Evan asked. Soon after, I could hear him mutter apologies. Aran chuckled.

"I don't know how she is now, but our dear elven friend was quite ruthless back then." He admitted. I sighed under my breath, remembering the betrayal he is referring to.

"What happened?" Evan murmured. There was a pause before Aran began the story. I listened and closed my eyes, able to see the events unfold as he told them as if it were yesterday.

**X-X-X**

Freud and Afrien were battling on the next hill, too far away to be of any help. The remainder of their army fought in the valley, which left Aran and I against a legion of armor-clad troops. I ran, jumped, and whirled, firing my dart guns and felling the Black Mage's minions. Despite my grace and skill though, we were slowly losing their strength, the battle, and with it, the war against the Black Mage. Suddenly, the soldiers stopped rushing forward and formed a circle around us. A mighty warrior stepped through the ring, clad in blue-black armor that glittered like ice.

"Hudak," Aran spat. His one-time friend, now the notorious Ice Knight in service to the Black Mage, had been hunting him relentlessly since his betrayal. The warrior nodded.

"I've come to make you an offer, old friend. Fight me in honorable one-on-one combat. If you win, my troops withdraw and you live to fight another day." The Ice Knight said. Aran had no choice, but before he could step forward, I slipped something into his hand and leaned into his ear.

"Tranquilizing dart," I whispered to him with a small smile. "Use it at the right time and you can't lose." Aran turned and shot me a look of withering scorn.

"You would have me fight dishonorably?" he hissed, throwing the dart to the ground. "If we are to win this war, it shall be by being better than those we fight!"

I said nothing as the battle between the two champions began. Though Aran was the finest fighter I had ever seen and he had always been in every fight she had seen him in, this was not an equal fight. The might of the Black Mage flowed through the Ice Knight's armor. Aran was going to lose.

Quietly, I did the unthinkable. I slid another tiny tranquilizing dart out of my sleeve and, with a flick of my bowgun, fired it across the field. It flew through a tiny gap in the Ice Knight's armor and scratched the flesh beneath. It barely slowed him down, yet that was enough.

"Is this all you ever were, Hudak?" Aran screamed at his one-time friend as his pole arm clanged down on his helmet. "Just a pile of armor and weapons with no honor at all?" A few more blows were the Ice Knight's undoing. Once the battle was over, Aran turned to me, eyes ablaze with fury. "You cheated!" He shouted into my face. The Ice Knight had crawled away in disgrace, taking the Black Mage's troops with him. "You've taken away my honor and left me nothing!" Aran snarled. "That tiny dart signified a stab in the back, a brutal betrayal as bad as the one committed by Hudak! How dare you, Mercedes?" Although I was a queen of few words, I couldn't take anymore.

"How dare YOU speak to me like that? Yes, I cheated!" I screamed back. "This is war, Aran! I will not allow your notion of personal honor to imperil our mission! The Black Mage must be destroyed!" I hated saying this. Aran's bravery, honor, and integrity had saved me more often than I could remember. It seemed inconceivable that something this petty could come between us, after all those years of friendship. Finally, we ran out of things to say and Aran turned his back on me with anger still plain on his face. He would not leave, I knew, but something broke between us that day that I feared would never be repaired.

**X-X-X**

My eyes flew open when I heard that Aran had stopped talking. There was a long silence before Evan spoke.

"Where did you find the ability to forgive her after that?" He wondered. I frowned, wounded. Did Evan hate me now as well? What made him think that Aran had forgiven me, anyway?

"I found the ability because of family, Evan." The warrior said. My head snapped up abruptly. "You may think that I have always been alone, but family doesn't just have to be the people you're related to. Family can be those you work with, those you travel with, those you chance along on the road. Family can be anyone whose health and happiness are as important to you as your own. Your family is made of everyone you can't imagine the world without."

I felt my own feet carry me forward. I stepped into the camp, where Evan and Aran were sitting at the fire. In the back of my mind, I realized that I had dropped the firewood. I didn't care, though. All I saw at the moment were Aran's tearful eyes and Evan's soft gaze. I smiled at them both. Aran stood, dusted himself off, and walked over to me. "Sometimes," he concluded, "when we make really stupid mistakes, family are the only people who forgive us anyway." He bowed slightly. "I'm really sorry, Mercedes. I didn't mean to leave things as they were." When he stood straight, I took no time at all to pull him into a hug.

"I just hope you have forgiven me for my actions." I murmured, my eyes burning with strain as I tried to keep back my tears. Aran hugged me back, which was answer enough. I was overjoyed to know that my old friend had forgiven me. We broke apart and I looked over at Evan, the new friend we would both share. He was looking at the fire with a strangely angry and envious face, the red light throwing shadows around and making him look even angrier than he seemed. I frowned and excused myself to grab the twigs. What could make Evan so angry?

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><p><strong>Ah, I love this story. I own none of it. <strong>

**Heh, what I mean by that is that Aran's story about the past was not my creation but, rather, a fanfiction that was posted on Maplestory last Christmas. You can find it on the site if you want. It's called Finding Families. You can access it through Fun Stuff on the main site. But yes, I don't own that particular story of Aran's with the Ice Knight. It belongs to whoever wrote it and Maplestory/Nexon/Wizet.  
><strong>

**Rate and Review!**


	21. The Night Before Mu Lung

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**Loooong writers block is long. Lazy writer is lazy. Crazy few days have been crazy. Sorry for sucking. OTL.**

**Really, I was stuck wondering what to do next after the Aran thing for a while now. It baffled me, but I got it covered now and therefore NEW CHAPTER. Thank you all for being patient with me. I know updates are erratic. I'll try to be more scheduled with my updates.**

**Oh, also, to the reviewer who was pointing out some mistakes in my writing: thank you so much ^^* I will certainly revise a few chapter and check over spelling. Really, it's reviewers like you who help me out with my writing a whole bunch. Give yourself a pat on the back~ You totally deserve it.  
><strong>

**Without further ado, let's continue with our 3 Heroes of Maple.**

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><p><strong>The Night Before Mu Lung<strong>

When I returned with the twigs I had dropped, Evan and Aran were sitting and chuckling at something. Mir was curled up behind Evan and was dozing off while Sylv was over by my tent and dozing off as well. I threw the twigs into the fire and sat down beside Evan.

"What's so funny?" I wondered, raising an eyebrow at them. My gaze rested on Evan. He was back to his usual self, smiling and laughing with my oldest friend. It made me happy as well, but I was still confused as to why he looked so angry before.

"I was telling Evan about that time I beat you in a fight. You looked so funny, with that pout and yelling to everyone that it was a lucky shot." Aran snickered at the memory. I scowled at him, and then smiled in defiance.

"Don't forget to tell him about the other 136 times I beat YOU." I snorted. Aran stopped laughing to eye me as Evan started laughing a little harder.

"Watch it, 'Lil Miss Royal Pain. I'm not afraid to take you right here."

"Ooo, I'm shaking already." I feigned a shiver once and rolled my eyes before digging into my bag for some small piece of pig meat that Athena gave me just before we left. I stuck it on a stick and let it hover over the fire. I could see the other two doing the same, Evan muttering something about why he hadn't thought of that before. I grinned inwardly.

"Then you won't mind another dual, Mercedes? It's been too long since we fought each other." Aran mused innocently. My eyebrows rose.

"I wouldn't mind, but we have more pressing matters to deal with. We have to get to Orbis and then to Mu Lung first thing in the morning and look for the Seal Stone. We don't have time for silly games." I blew on my food to cool it and took a bite. Aran pouted childishly and took a bite of his own food. After a long silence, Evan cleared his throat.

"I don't know, Merc. Maybe a bit of sparring amongst the three of us would be good. It would give us a chance to prepare for anything we might face." He murmured. I frowned. He made a sound argument, but it would still be a waste of our time.

"Kid has a point, Mercedes." Aran mused, smiling teasingly at me. I made a face at them both. Aran wasn't fazed, but Evan shrunk just slightly. The reaction baffled me. Why was he acting so weird tonight?

"Alright, I suppose when we have time, we can engage in a bit of combat." I ruefully agreed. Aran made a small 'yes!' sound under his breath and Evan smiled in excitement.

"Sweet! I can't wait to fight you guys and show you what I'm made of!" Evan said, jumping up and swishing his stick around, his partially-cooked meat still on the stick and was effectively throwing the juices coming off of the meat onto our clothes.

"Evan, be careful!" I winced when a bit of hot grease landed on my bare ankle. Aran was wiping off the same substance from his armor, though it still stained. Evan stopped and apologized before sitting back down and eating his food. I got up to get some rags and wet them with a bit of drinking water to try to get the stains out of my armor before letting Aran try with his own armor. Evan apologized once again and asked if he could use it too. Once we finished cleaning our clothes as best we could, we ate in silence for the rest of the night before I excused myself to go to bed, leaving the boys at the campfire by themselves.

**X-X-X**

The minute I closed my eyes, my mind took me back in time once again. I was walking down a dirt path, wearing my white Elf Queen armor, the metal shining beautifully, complete with a cape and matching leather boots with my most powerful bowguns at my side. They were white just as my attire was, but the arrows were tipped gold and had a deep green aura. My hair was also laced with green and my crown shown at the very tip of my head. I looked like I had during the final battles of the war, but I felt like something was very different. One look around told me I was alone.

I could faintly hear the cries of monsters in the distance. Growls and howls, screeches and rustling. I didn't lose my composure. I wasn't scared. I just kept walking forward. The occasional monster wandered out onto the path I was walking on, but it took no time at all to shoot it down. In the back of my mind, I noticed that some of them were from the past, but some were monsters I have seen in the present. Some monsters were unknown to me. I couldn't tell if they were from the past or the present. I didn't care. I was still able to kill them with one blow.

I was getting more and more confused. This felt like an out-of-body experience. I could see myself from the outside, but I could also feel what is going on inside and occasionally see what is going on through my eyes. I was a ghost and a living person. I was a 3rd person and a 1st person at the same time. At least, that's what I think is happening. The expression on my face was a hard mask, a determined face set on a single task. It was either complete it or die trying. Inside, however, I could feel the fear, the worry. What if I fail? What if I don't complete it? Something will stop me for sure, but what?

There was no doubt about it. I was going to face the Black Mage. This confused me further, though. Why was I alone? I could never hope to survive one second against that tyrant by myself. Where was Aran? Was Freud nearby? Was Evan, if this is the present after all?

I saw myself pause and stare ahead suddenly, eyes hardening further. At that moment, I could see through those hard eyes. A few feet before me stood a figure cloaked in a black cloak. The hood covered his eyes, but not the cruel smile he wore. In his hands was a small wooden doll. "Who are you?" I heard myself call out. He didn't answer. He just thrust out his hand with his fingers spread wide, as if trying to catch something.

Suddenly, I couldn't move. My limbs were frozen, my muscles held in place. I was even afraid my heart had stopped until I felt it beat rapidly. I glared at the mysterious figure. No doubt this was a spell. "Let go of me this instant!" I cried. The person didn't answer. He just smiled wider and his fingers slowly moved. My legs then began to move by themselves in a slightly sloppy manner. I began to panic a little. What could this mean? What is happening to me? Why did I have to be alone right now? What I wouldn't give for some help right now.

I tried to struggle against this person's magic with all my might. I managed to push back, but I was just dragged right back. I was getting frustrated, hot tears running down my cheeks in angry desperation. This evil and powerful person just smirked and continued to pull me toward him. "Let go!" I growled in a last ditch effort. I tried to move my arms at least, and reach for my bowguns. My arms were pinned tight to my sides. "LET ME GO!" I screamed, voice cracking in anger. The person laughed. He sounded like a child.

Suddenly, there was a flash of silver that sliced down between me and the evil in front of me. The hold on my body went away abruptly and I fell backwards onto my back.

**X-X-X**

I woke up with a huge jolt going through my body. I sat up, wincing when my skin stuck to my sleeping bag. It was very hot outside, I noticed. I blinked a few times to adjust to the darkness, the light from the moon soon making it clearer to see where I was. I was currently lying under Sylv's wing on my sleeping bag; the blanket I was using bundled at my feet. I must've unconsciously kicked it off of my body when I felt it was getting too hot. The dream didn't help.

Oh right, the dream. I combed my hair back. I didn't recognize the person who had attacked me in the dream. I could only tell from what I have seen that it was male. He was either a child or a very short man with a childish voice. I can only guess that he is of the Black Wings. If I was going to face the Black Mage in my dream, it's only logical that his subordinates would be guarding the way. Then again, since when have dreams ever been logical?

I frowned to myself. Is this the person I will be facing next? The last dream I had, Orca said she will be waiting for me and that came true. Does this mean that I will get attacked by this short man/child who made it impossible for me to move? Hopefully, I won't be foolishly alone like I was in the dream. I'll be with Evan and Aran.

I also considered the flash of silver I saw before I woke up. Someone had severed the connection between me and the man. It was probably Aran with his polearm. I could be wrong, of course. A bit of rustling jolted me from my thoughts. I froze and looked in the direction of the noise, though I couldn't see anything from the darkness of Sylv's wing with only the moonlight as my only source of light. The rustling continued, but went further away. I gently lifted Sylv's wing and slid out from under it, careful to make sure my bowguns were at my sides. I stood and looked around.

The campfire was out, the smoke long gone already. The moonlight shone on the whole camp and I could see that Aran was already in his tent. Mir was asleep with his wing spread, probably sheltering Evan. I looked toward where the rustling sound had disappeared to. There were a few footprints in the dirt leading off into the trees. With caution, I proceeded to follow the footprints. I kept my guard up, hands on my bowguns. The tracks soon stopped in front of a few bushes and trees. The moonlight lit up a small clearing through the trees. I carefully stepped over the bushes and through the trees, looking around for any signs of life.

A tap on my shoulder startled me. I jumped, turned, and pulled out my bowguns to point at the person behind me.

"You know, this is probably the 2nd time or so that you pulled your weapons on me." Evan smiled nervously, hands raised.

**X-X-X**

I lowered my arms and sighed in relief. "Don't scare me like that! Seriously, it's the middle of the night. What are you doing out here?" I growled at the kid. His hair looked very messy and he was in his normal clothes apart from his mage robe.

"I should ask you the same thing." Evan eyed me suspiciously. I frowned, debating on what to say. "No lies, Merc, remember?" He added before I could say anything. I blinked and sighed again.

"I had just woken up from a dream and I heard you snapping twigs and crunching leaves. You?" I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. He nodded slowly.

"I couldn't sleep at all. I came out here to think." He shrugged and turned slowly. "I'm heading back to bed now, so don't worry." I blinked and my brow furrowed. I reached out and grabbed his arm before he took a step away.

"Hold on. What is going on with you today?" I asked. He turned and looked at me curiously.

"What do you mean? Nothing has been going on with me." He answered. I shook my head.

"No, something has been bugging you. Earlier, when Aran told you that story, you looked really upset." I frowned in worry. Evan's face went blank for a moment before he half smiled.

"You noticed that, huh?" He chuckled. I let his arm go so he could turn around completely to face me. It took a moment before he spoke again. "Truthfully, Merc, I was afraid. I was afraid that, now that Aran is in the picture, you'll forget about me and hang out with your old friend. You've know each other longer and you've fought together. It won't be long until I'm cast aside…" His sentence drifted off. I stared at him for a little bit before smiling and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Just because I know Aran from the past, doesn't mean he is any more my friend than you are. You're just as much my friend as he is and that will never change. I like you both and I trust you will stick by my side not only as a friend, but as a fellow Hero." I told him. He looked at me with a small smile and leaned in to give me a hug. It shocked me. I don't believe we've hugged before, not since the boat ride from Edelstein. Still, it made me happy and I hugged him back.

"Thank you, Mercedes. I'll stick by you no matter what, don't worry." We broke apart and he smiled at me with determination. I smiled back and gave his shoulder a small shove.

"Good. Now get some sleep, or you'll be falling asleep on Mir the entire trip to Mu Lung." He laughed and agreed before giving me a small wave and walking back to camp. I stuck around for a little longer, looking up at the moon. It wasn't quite full yet, but it was bright. A fool could easily mistake it for the sun. I smiled and slowly walked back to camp.

"Glad you and the kid patched things up." A voice came when I arrived back. I looked up to see Aran, awake and without his armor, smiling slightly at me. I frowned in confusion. "I noticed earlier that he was a little uneasy when he saw that I was Aran and he told me that you talked a lot about him. I'm glad that you guys talked about it." He explained.

"Oh? I didn't know you cared so much about mine and Evan's friendship." My eyebrow rose. He smirked.

"I don't. I just don't want you two to be tensed throughout this whole trip. Tension gives off bad vibes and all." He shrugged. I let out a short, quiet laugh.

"If you say so. Good night, Aran." I waved and crawled under Sylv's wing, settling in my sleeping bag. I smirked as I closed my eyes. I don't care what he says. I know from experience that he cares if there is bad blood between friends for whole other reasons.

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><p><strong>Could it be that Aran also ships Mercedes X Evan? Maybe. I could see it happening, though ^^*. For those of you who got confused at Mercedes' flashback, she was hopping between seeing her body from the outside and looking through her body's point of view. It was a weird dream to describe, to say in the least.<strong>

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	22. The Plane Ride

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**I assume you guys have heard about the new Jet class? I was a little pissed because they pushed back Phantom for it, but my friend tells me that it's not that bad. Sorry, I don't mean to stray from the topic. Just wanted to put that out there~.**

**In other news, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have 3 ongoing fanfictions now. *sigh* unfortunately, when you're a writer, even if it's for fun, inspiration doesn't always strike in the right places. I started a new fic a little while ago that has been sucking away all my thinking time. Hence the small bouts of writers block I've been getting in this fic and my other ongoing one. Don't worry; I've still been thinking about this fic and I'm still continuing it. You'll just be seeing more of the new one from time to time, if you've subscribed to me as an author.**

**Side note, if you guys are having problems with reviewing, please let me know through PM.**

**Without further ado, a new chapter awaits!**

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><p><strong>The Plane Ride<strong>

After a good night's sleep, Evan, Aran, and I had a quick bite of leftover meat and headed to the boat station to ride the boat to Orbis. Unfortunately, the ship for Orbis already left.

"I'm sorry. You'll have to wait until it gets back." The woman informed us sadly. We thanked her and started heading out.

"So now what?" Evan asked. "Even if Mir and Sylv COULD manage a nonstop flight to Orbis, we still have Aran and his wolf to figure out." Aran narrowed his eyes at him.

"What are you implying? Have my buddy and I become… a problem?'

"Of _course _not. Just a minor setback."

"Pardon? Listen, you, I-!"

"Both of you, cut it out." I cut in, annoyed. They stopped right away. "We don't have the time for this right now. We will just have to wait for the boat to get back."

"Oh, but why would you wait?" A deep male voice said somewhere behind us. We turned to see an old man with greying hair and an aviator outfit.

"The boat doesn't show up for another hour." Evan answered cautiously. We all eyed the man as he chuckled.

"But you don't have to take the boat. How about you rent an airplane?"

"Airplane?" I frowned, confused.

"Oh, I've heard of those." Aran said. Evan and I looked at him for an explanation. "They're a new invention. They're supposed to be faster than a boat and you can rent one for as long as you want as long as you have the mesos, so you don't have to wait for a boat."

"Awesome! How much is it?" Evan asked the old man excitedly. I stopped him from getting close.

"Not so fast." I eyed the man. "Is it safe?"

"It's as safe as any boat ride. I've had a ton of people helping me test it and it finally got approved by the Maple council a few days ago. People have been using them without incident." The man assured. Aran and Evan looked hooked, but I still wasn't convinced.

"Let's see one." I demanded. The old man smiled and nodded his head before going a few ways behind him. There was a tarp covering something about the size of the three of us put together. He pulled it off to reveal a red machine with straight and thick wings and an open top to show a seat and various flips and switches.

"This is my red model. It's the fastest and most expensive one I have. You can rent it for a whole week and use it for any trip you'd like."

"Even to Mu Lung?" My eyebrow rose. The old man scratched his chin.

"No. Since they use cranes to get there and there are a bunch of those, the Maple council said that planes aren't necessary. However, they ARE cleared to take you everywhere else." While he talked, Aran and Evan peeked inside the plane.

"There won't be enough room for us." Aran noted. The old man nodded sadly.

"Yes, unfortunately, the planes are one-person rides. You can ride alongside your friends, but they need their own planes."

"How much is this one?" Evan asked, tapping the red plane.

"25,000 mesos each." The old man answered. We stared at him, dumbfounded, and checked our bags.

"I have 50,000, but I kind of need it." Aran said.

"I have about 30,000." I said.

"I… am broke." Evan slumped. I sighed.

"Guess we can't buy them. Let's go back to the station and wait." I began walking toward the station, feeling my companions behind me.

"Wait a moment!" The man shouted. We paused and looked at him. He was looking at our backs and smiling in wonder. "Are you three, by any chance, the Heroes of Maple?" We blinked and slowly nodded. "Ha-ha! I thought you three looked familiar! The huge flying lizard interested me and I thought the weird dual crossbows looked familiar, but when I saw that pole arm, there was no doubt on my mind! You know what; I'm going to give you guys a free trial run with my planes!"

"Seriously?" Evan grinned in excitement. The man nodded and went to get 3 strange passes. They had pictures of the red airplane on them.

"Give these to the lady at the station and she will bring out 3 red planes for you to use." He handed the passes to us. We each took one.

"Why are you doing this? I hope you know, we won't accept handouts." I narrowed my eyes at the man.

"Speak for yourself." Aran muttered. I shot him a glare and waited for an answer.

"No, nothing like that! It's just, I've been hearing about your quests to stop the Black Wings. They are terrible people and a lot of my customers need my planes to escape them. I want to see them be brought to justice and I want to help the Heroes who will serve it however I can." He smiled kindly at us. I nodded and smiled back.

"Well, thank you. We'll make sure your actions aren't in vain."

"I call shotgun!" Evan shouted as he ran toward the station.

"You can't call shotgun, you have your own plane!" Aran laughed and jogged after him. I laughed a little as well and shook hands with the old man.

"Thank you. We'll pay you back for your kindness." I vowed. He shook his head.

"Just take that blasted Black Mage down and we'll call it even."

**X-X-X**

When we came back to the station and got our planes, we hit yet another snag.

"Um, how do we use these?" Evan asked what all three of us were thinking. We had already settled down in the planes and were staring at the various buttons and switches. Mir and Sylv were sitting nearby, waiting for us to take off first. Aran's wolf was in the plane beside him.

"All of the controls are preset and the navigation is on autopilot for whatever destination you wish to go. In this case, since you are only able to go to Orbis from here, it is on autopilot to Orbis. When you get to Orbis, you will leave the planes there and get back your cards to use for later." The station worker explained. "You just press the green start button." We nodded and did so, nearly scaring ourselves to death when the plane roared to life.

"Onward to Orbis!" Aran shouted. The planes lifted up in the air and began to climb. Behind us, I faintly heard Mir and Sylv flying up as well. After a certain height, the planes straightened themselves and flew forward.

"This is so awesome!" Evan shouted. "I've never been this high up!"

"Me neither!" I couldn't help but laugh. It was an exhilarating feeling, to fly this high off the ground. Sylv can only fly so high up with a passenger, and only for so long. I glanced back at her and we smiled at each other as she shared a mutual feeling of excitement. I looked at Aran and saw he was just as happy. He probably hasn't flown since Afrien was still alive. I sighed as I thought of those times.

Suddenly, I felt a little nudge at my plane. I looked to see Evan fly right next to me, Mir flying behind him as Sylv flew behind me. "What are you doing?" I shouted over the roar of the planes, confused by how he was able to move the plane when it moved by itself.

"You can move from side to side and lower and higher as long as you fly straight using this thing!" He pointed to a little joystick. I looked in my plane for the same thing.

"Are you sure it's okay to use this?" I shouted, looking up at him. I blinked when I didn't see him and looked around to find him a little under me.

"Whaat? I can't hear you!" He shouted when he realized I was talking to him. I sighed and eyed the joystick. After a moment of thought, I slowly moved it to the side. The plane tilted a bit as it flew to the left and straightened up once I straightened out the stick. I move it back and giggled a little.

"Aran!" I shouted. Aran looked back at me curiously. "There's a joystick on your left! It can make you move in any direction!" Aran's eyebrows rose and he looked down. Soon after he began moving up and down and side to side. I laughed and looked at Evan. He looked a little sad for a moment, but quickly smiled and laughed as well. Mir and Sylv dove and spun through the air along with us. Aran flew back so all 5 of us were in the same vicinity. No one was behind or in front. For the rest of the ride, Aran, Evan, and I tumbled through the air.

**X-X-X**

After a few minutes, we were approaching Orbis. We decided to fly side by side without moving the joysticks so our landing would be safe. According to what the woman said about the autopilot, it should land them automatically. Our planes slowly tipped forward and began flying into the open station from Orbis to Victoria. Our planes landed one at a time, Mir and Sylv going ahead to land closer to the exit, away from the planes. Once we landed, two people in Orbis station uniforms came by and led the 3 planes away, then gave us cards similar to the ones we had before.

We stored the cards in our bags and headed to the Mu Lung station. It was wide open, like all of the other stations, and had a big white bird with long legs stationed at the edge. He had a hat with an emblem, I'm assuming Mu Lung's, on his head and a handkerchief in his mouth. Evan told me earlier that it's used to carry the passengers.

"Only one. I guess other people are using other cranes." Aran sighed.

"Ladies first?" Evan gestured to the crane. I smiled a little and nodded in thanks before slipping into the seat. The crane started flapping its wings and rising into the air. Sylv followed suit. The boys waved to me. I waved back and sighed, hoping inwardly that they don't kill each other while I'm away.

The ride took about the same amount of time as the plane ride did. While in the air, I saw a few cranes fly in the opposite direction back to Orbis. I hoped Aran and Evan would grab a ride, but I also felt bad about the cranes. They had a hard job, carrying heavy people wearing armor, weapons, and possibly pets to and from towns, only to have more people waiting for them. When my crane landed, I handed him an apple I had in my bag. He gobbled it up happily as I took in my surroundings.

The place looked tranquil, a very peaceful place of unique style that I have yet to see in the Maple world. The inhabitants were dressed in cloaks with beautiful patterns on them. In the distance, I saw some warriors and mages sparring with each other and some straw dummies. I smiled. I could live here. I heard some flapping wings and looked over my shoulder to see Aran and Evan get out of their cranes. I tossed their cranes another apple and an orange before the three of us wordlessly headed deeper into town.

One of the things that surprised me most about the town wasn't the buildings, the business, or the relatively open markets. The biggest shock to me was the natives. They were all…

"Pandas?" I looked around everywhere to see pandas walking around, some old and wrinkly-looking and some small and young, all wearing the same robes as some of the people who" lived here wore.

"Welcome to Mu Lung." Aran laughed at my face. I made a face at him and we continued our walk through the town.

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><p><strong>I apologize for the filler chapter. More on Mu Lung later!<strong>

**Rate and Review~**


	23. Important Announcement

**~Important Announcement~**

**I'm very close to turning off anons for my stories, because you guys use anon to comment things that I most want to explain in private. I've been getting too many complaints about this to ignore and, because all but one are anon, I have to talk about it to everyone. I don't like doing that. It's like a teacher talking to an entire class because he/she doesn't know who is the sole person causing the trouble.**

**Most of you have been saying that the romance in this fic is developing very slowly or there is none at all. First of all, if you think there is none at all, you're very blind or you're skimming this fic. There is romance. It's cutesy and there's a lot of beating around the bush, but it's there. You don't get jealous over someone or have a heart-to-heart with them if you're 'just friends'. Second of all, I'd like to remind you that only 3-4 days have passed in this fic. No one falls in love that quickly. Third of all, it is clear that the fic isn't ending very soon, so more romance WILL come gradually. It's not as if I'm suddenly going to finish off the fic or leave it where it is. More romance will come, you just have to be patient. You guys were fine with the last 21 chapters. Suddenly, I put a filler as chapter 22 and you feel the need to throw all these demands at me?**

**I have to tell you now, even when I DO get to the romance, it won't be huge makeouts and sexiness or anything like that. I'm not a romance novelist or any sort of specialist on Mercedes/Evan. I wrote this fic because I like the pairing as cutesy and fluffy but I also am interested in putting their storylines together. Ergo, this fic will take a while to finish and the romance won't be as huge as some of you want it to be. But guess what- you don't have to read it. You're not obligated to, you don't gain anything special from reading it and neither do I. I don't care if people read this or not. Frankly, I'm surprised people read this in the first place, considering it's my first time writing and I'm not exactly an expert. I write this fic because I like the idea I came up with. I am writing this for myself, not to please your fantasies.**

**If you don't like how slow this is going or how little romance there is and how little it'll probably progress, don't read it. Don't send me your little anon messages telling me what I should do. I asked for critiques, not requests. I know what I'm doing, I'm not an idiot, I've thought this story through many times before getting down to writing it. If you think you could do a better job, YOU write a fic yourself. Be my guest. Heaven knows the Maplestory section needs more good slash fics with the heroes rather than ones about OC characters.**

**Now, unrelated announcement to this; I'll be taking a longer break from writing this fic for a while. Not because of anything you guys have done. It takes more than a few rude anons to bring me down ;] I currently have 3 ongoing fanfics as of right now, only one of them not as major that it needs my constant care. I want to narrow it down to one and, frankly, I'm not as motivated to write this fic as I usually am. I've been drawing up blanks as to how to piece events together, plus I've been too distracted, and I need more time to get out all of the ideas I have for my other fic before focusing on this one. My attention can only be diverted so far. I'll submit one chapter for this that I have been churning out slowly, but I still need more research on it before writing it out. The minute it's written, I'll put it up, but after that, I'll be taking a break and working on something else for an undefined amount of time.**

**Thank you very much for understanding, you guys, and I'm not blaming everyone for the whole anon dilemma. Most of you reading this fic have been with me since the beginning, some have started late and really fallen in love with it. For that, I thank you very much and I am happy that my story makes you happy. You can always message me if you want to talk and I will be happy to answer any questions you might have about this fic or just answer a request for friendship.**

**This has been an important announcement from NatD-LE.**


	24. Finding the Seal

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**Thank you guys for your support and loving words. I assure you, I will be working on this story as much as I can for you guys. You have motivated me thus far and you continue to do so and I really love you guys for it ;v;**

**As for "anon who loves reading", it's hard to take you and your advice seriously if you hide behind anon and can barely even write yourself. You're like a kid throwing paper balls from behind a wall and I'd much rather ignore you than throw them back.**

**Anyway, enough with the troll. You guys want a chapter and you've got one~**

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><p><strong>Finding the Seal<strong>

We didn't have enough time to explore the town as much as we wanted. We had to find the person who claimed to have seen the Seal first. Aran went back to where the cranes were while Evan and I walked around and questioned residents, namely pandas, for information regarding the Seal. To our dismay, none of them had any clue what we were talking about. Eventually, we took a break and sat on a bench to wait for Aran.

"I hope he hurries up." Evan grumbled. He seemed crankier than usual, frowning and shuffling around. I eyed him curiously.

"He probably had more luck then we have had." I said. Evan let out a soft snort. I frowned at him. "You okay? What's your problem with Aran?"

"I don't have a problem wi-."

"Evan, don't lie to me. We were past that, remember? Now, I can tell you have a problem with him." I put a hand gently on his shoulder. He looked at me for a moment before looking away. "Tell me." I requested softly.

"I… I guess I still feel like you and Aran are… closer than you and I…" He slowly said, his face getting a red hue. I couldn't help it. I snickered and squeezed his shoulder.

"Evan, you're being silly. I told you, Aran is not a bigger friend to me than you are. I like you both. You have no reason to be jealous." I chided. He blinked and jumped up.

"J-jealous? I'm not jealous! What do I care if Aran has more of your-…!" He shook his head and scoffed. "And besides, I don't get jealous of anyone, even Aran." My eyebrow rose.

"If you say so. Would you rather I say envious?" I offered. He made a face and shook his head, sitting back down.

"Whatever, okay? I'm fine now. You don't have to worry." He grumbled. I smiled and gently patted his head. I felt him stiffen slightly, but didn't think it was anything big.

"Whatever you say, Evan, but I'm not going to stop worrying. I care too much to ever stop worrying." He turned to look at me with a very strange expression. He looked a little like Freud before the big battle. I frowned. "Something wrong?" Evan hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth to speak.

"Yo, guys!" I looked up and saw Aran riding over via wolf. "I found someone who knows where the Seal is! Once we find it, we can hang around here and train before heading back."

"That's great news!" I stood and smiled at the boys. Evan stood as well and gave me a nod and somewhat of a sullen smile. I tilted my head. Just what could make that boy happy? I blinked. It hit me.

"Actually, Aran, instead of training, how about we head to Victoria?" I asked before the two retreated. They stopped and looked at me in confusion.

"Victoria? Why?" Aran questioned.

"Well, there is a boat in Lith Harbor that will take us to a little island between Rien and Victoria." I smiled at Evan, who's eyes lit up. "I promised Evan we would go there to investigate the Onyx dragons."

"Oh my god, seriously?" Evan squeaked out. He rushed forward and gave me a huge hug. "Thank you, Merc! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He chanted happily. I smiled and hugged him back, looking at Aran over Evan's shoulder. Aran looked thoughtful.

"I guess we can go check it out. Who knows, maybe Afrien left us some more surprises." He glanced over at Mir, who was as ecstatic as Evan was and was currently flying around us and wagging his whole body.

"Oh gosh, guys." Evan broke away to look between me and Aran with a huge smile on his face, one I haven't seen since the Alliance meeting. "Thank you! It would be great if you both came with me. You… you don't know how much this means to me."

"Does that mean you don't hate me anymore?" Aran winked. I blinked. Did he know how Evan felt about him? Was he listening in earlier? To my surprise, Evan laughed.

"Yeah, I guess it does, for now." Evan grinned and began skipping and cheering toward the other half of town where Aran had come from. Mir followed and flew around his master.

"How did you know he didn't like you?" I asked Aran as we slowly trudged behind Evan.

"When you left on the crane, I had a little chat with him." Aran shrugged. "I don't think we'll have to worry about him." He smiled at me and ruffled my hair. "That was a really awesome thing of you to do."

"Thank you. I could say the same thing about you." I grinned, fixing my hair.

**X-X-X**

Despite Evan and Mir's dancing around and our run-in with Mu Lung police (apparently, they looked like street performers and the police were looking for documents stating they could do so. We all got a laugh out of that.), we made it to Aran's informant: a young panda in front of the huge building on the far right side.

"So, we heard that you've seen the Seal?" I questioned. The panda shrugged.

"I don't know what it is, I've just seen some weird magical object on the roof of the dojo." He answered. I blinked.

"Um, what's a dojo?" I asked. The panda looked at me weirdly. Aran shook his head.

"She has a few memory problems. You'll have to excuse her confusion." I was about to argue (I don't care if he is my friend or not, I do NOT have memory problems!) but he shot me a look that said 'play along'. So I grumbled inwardly and remained silent.

"A dojo is a place where people of Mu Lung can train to fight. It's these sets of buildings here." The young panda pointed to the huge building behind him and the continuation of the same building stretching out behind it. "I found the magical item on the roof."

"How didja get on the roof?" Evan asked. "Even Mir can't fly that high with a passenger."

"I have a special trick for doing so. I can teach only one of you, though. My master limited me from teaching my magic to strangers." The young panda made a face. "I don't care who you are as long as you get rid of it. It's messing with the monsters inside the building. I just don't want my master yelling at me later."

"Understood." I said, then nodded to Aran. "You will learn the skill, then. It's your assignment in the first place." Aran nodded and the young panda pulled him off to the side.

"Awesome! We're finishing up this thing so fast! In no time, we'll be headed to the island!" Evan gushed in excitement. I snickered.

"Don't start dancing again. The police will make us pay a fine." I warned. Evan laughed and stayed still.

"Sorry. I just can't wait. Thank you, again." I smiled and shook my head.

"You don't need to thank me. I promised to come along in the first place and I will be keeping that promise."

"Still, I owe you big." Evan grinned genuinely and, before I knew it, pulled me into another hug. I hugged him back for a second before he pulled away and looked off to the side, his face turning red again. I eyed him. He was acting weirder than usual, but at least he's happier now.

"Alright, guys." Aran came over, waving goodbye to the panda as he walked closer. "So, there is apparently a hidden portal somewhere around the dojo entrance. We just have to find it and it will lead us up to the roof. Not too far from there, he saw the Seal."

"Great! Let's start looking." Evan said. We all agreed that we would search all around the dojo and whoever finds the portal lets the others know in an instant. We headed to the dojo and split up. I went with Sylv to start at the end of the row of buildings, Aran and his wolf will be walking along the main building, and Evan and Mir went to search along the middle. Evan and I would meet up once we were done and then we'd go meet Aran, if neither of us found anything. I walked along the building, watching as other people fought dummies made of various things. In the meantime, I talked to Sylv a bit.

_You and Mir completely made up, right? _I asked her. She bobbed her head.

_**Yes, and thank god. I'd rather not have a dragon on my bad side.**_

_Well, no one wants THAT. I thought you trusted him, though._

_**I do. I trust him not to kill me. **_

_Well then. _I chuckled. Sylv huffed.

_**Point is, we've made peace and we're friends. How about you and Evan? **_I frowned suspiciously.

_What about me and Evan?_

_**You two have been getting awfully close. Should I be worried? **_Sylv winked. I could feel myself turn pink.

_It's not like that. He's just my friend._

_**Just? Doesn't seem like it. You and Aran are 'just friends'. You and Evan seem more like you and Freud used to be.**_

_That's silly. There was nothing between us either._

_**You keep telling yourself that.**_ I made a face at her as she tossed her mane and walked ahead. I walked along the wall of the building for anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly, I felt a surge of energy in front of me, like a gust of wind. I frowned and cautiously took a step forward. Before I knew it, I was suddenly standing on the roof, trying to keep my balance.

"_**Merc? Merc! Where did you go?"**_ Sylv called, galloping around to look for me.

"Up here!" I called to her. She turned to look and tossed her head in shock.

"_**How did you get up there?"**_

"I think the portal I stepped through was instant! Get Evan and tell him and Mir to get over here with Aran. I'll look for the Seal and a way down in the meantime!"

"_**Okay!"**_ Sylv galloped away. I carefully stepped along the roof, watching my feet and nearly getting heart attacks as my feet sometimes slipped. Eventually, my eyes caught sight of something glowing red. I looked to see a jewel-like stone that shone red lying in between two roof tiles. Carefully as possible, I slid closer to the stone and reached down to grab it. As soon as my fingers touched it, my balance was forgotten and I slid and began to slide down the roof. I grabbed the Seal Stone and kept it close, closing my eyes, hoping to keep it protected from shattering, even if I shatter instead (okay, maybe that's a little dramatic of me, but I still think the fall is going to hurt.)

Before I could hit anything hard, however, I landed into something a little softer that held me away from the ground in a bridal hold. I opened an eye to see Evan, looking like he had been running, holding me clumsily. I glanced behind him to see Sylv and Mir flying over.

"Y-you okay?" he panted. I nodded swiftly.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for catching me."

"A-anytime. You got the stone?" He slowly lowered me down to the ground. I stumbled, the shock from falling making me woozy, and showed him the jewel. He smiled and took it from me to examine it closer. As he did, Mir and Sylv came by.

"_You okay, Mercedes?_" Mir fretted. I nodded again and patted both of their snouts.

"I'm fine. You guys call Aran?" I asked.

"_**We did. He should be behind us." **_We all glanced to the entrance just in time to see Aran jogging over.

"You find it?" He asked. I nodded and Evan handed him the stone. Aran examined it and grinned. "Awesome! I'll report this to Lilin and send it to her. Then, we're gonna go to Lith." He pulled out his own phone and stepped away to call Lilin. Evan grinned and uttered a small 'yes!' and I didn't blame him. We were finally going to learn more about the Onyx dragons. Who knows, Evan's lead could even be the best one to find out what happened to Afrien. I smiled and reached over to hug him in happiness. Even though he was taken by surprise, he hugged me back instantly. Before I pulled away and we began chatting about the trip to Lith, I saw Sylv give me a knowing look.

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><p><strong>And so my hiatus begins with the promise that the next arc will come~ Later, it's likely that I'll merge chapter 22 and 23, so be wary of that.<strong>

**Rate and Review~**


	25. Important Announcement 2

**Please make sure ALL of you actually READ this A/N.**

**Alright, I'm going to post this here, because this is getting ridiculous. I've excused the first few anons who asked me when I was going to update. The next few these past few weeks, I got a little annoyed with, but I let it go. However, today, I got an anon in ANOTHER story of mine, the one I've been working on for the past month, asking me when I was going to update THIS story. WHAT?!**

**Guys, I'm happy that you enjoy my story and want to see it continue, but you have to consider my feelings a little. You guys are making me feel like some kind of an idiot, when really, you make it seem like you guys aren't paying as much attention to the story as I thought, or at least not my A/Ns.**

**I've taken a hiatus for an indefinite amount of time. This means that I'm leaving the story for a while and I don't know when I'll be back. The reason? Well, school has already started, for one. Also, I have other writings to work on. I'd like to see YOU try to juggle 3 stories at once (it doesn't count if they're part of the same plot). Some people can, some people can't. I happen to be one of the people who can't.**

**So please, stop asking me to update. I WILL, eventually, update this story with an ACTUAL chapter. However, I'm not going to update until I finish the story I have started. You ever come up with a story where all you can think about is how you can continue? That's how I feel with my newer story. I just can't bring myself to think about Maplestory while writing this other story. If I try to write for this fic in my current state of mind, all you'll get is a filler chapter. I don't want to do that to you guys. I want to finish my other story first, then continue with Mercedes and Evan.**

**Instead of filling reviews with "update nao!", how about you tell me more about what you like or dislike about this story. Give me some details! What's your favorite part in the chapter? What's your favorite chapter? Least favorite? Any mistakes I need to fix when I get back? Those are the kinds of reviews I really enjoy getting. Those are the reviews that really help me with my writing. I don't need anymore 'update!' reviews. I get it already.**

**Also, stop harassing my newer story. This means you, Maplestory anon. I'm deleting your review from the story, but I don't want to see it again. It's a Hetalia fanfic. It has nothing to do with Maplestory. It's kind of a low trick to try to get my attention using my other stories. I love that you care so much, but please stop, for me.**

**Thank you for sitting through this announcement and I hope you read it all the way through. I don't want to have to come back until I have what you've been waiting for. If you get me annoyed enough, it's very likely that I'll be too upset at you to come out of my hiatus at all. Believe me, I've considered it.**

**This has been an important announcement (#2) by NatD-LE**


	26. An End and a New Beginning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory.**

**Yes, believe it or not, this is the ending. I'm sorry, I had intended for this to be a longer fic, but I have been, as of the last arc, completely stuck. I had absolutely no idea how to continue in normal chapter format. Therefore, I am going to continue in summery. This is Mercedes' summery of the events that happen after they find the Seal Stone. It's kind of short, but I am rather proud of the chapter.**

**I'm truly sorry that I can't give you the chapter you guys deserve, with dialog and cliffhangers and such. This is literally the only way I could think of for the past 2 or so months on how to continue with this story. It was the best way I could think of of getting the ending to you without the story falling flat. This also happens to be my personal favorite. This story was actually inspired by everything that happens in this chapter. I thought of the end to this fic before I thought of the beginning. That's why the fic seems so awkward in some places.**

**I also want to thank everyone who has stayed with the fic for this long. You all have been dealing with my bullshit and weirdness and fillers for almost a year. That takes a lot of patience. I reward you with this and hope its enough. I really enjoy this story and I loved writing it. I really did. Despite the blocks and the changing of obsessions, this story is my first ever fanfiction and I love it like my own child.**

**I might come back to this story in the future, just to fix it up and maybe, finally, space out the ending written below into actual chapters. I might even reupload it as a result.**

**Anyways, I am rambing. Thank you again, you guys. Please enjoy the chapter and the story in general, and come see my other stories if you want.**

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><p>Later that week, after we returned the stone, we flew to Lith Harbor and paid for a boat to the island. Evan, Aran, and I were as excited as can be to get there. When we finally landed, we were met with a terrible sight. The entire island was covered in bones of various sizes. Mir recognized them all as dragon bones, with a mix of other creatures. It was proof enough that dragons used to live here, but it didn't help convince anyone that there were still Onyx dragons alive. Mir and Evan were not discouraged.<p>

The island was also covered in snow. Aran noted that it was a lot like Rien. After a bit of walking, we came upon a cave of ice. We proceeded with caution and came upon an opening at the end. There were ice shards everywhere, like an ice sculpture exploded. At the end, we came upon who else but Afrien, weak and old but still the same King of the Onyx dragons, father of Mir. He was just as surprised to see us as we were to see him.

I came up to him, strangely calm, and asked how this was possible. He was supposed to have died of old age, or died along with the other dragons. It was then that he told me the truth. All those centuries ago, he had lied to me. He told me that Freud took a fatal blow from the Black Mage's curse. The truth was that Afrien took the curse for Freud, saving him and going under the effect of the curse even as he and I spoke those many years ago. Freud was still alive. When Afrien turned to ice with me, Aran, Phantom, and Luminous, Freud took Afrien's last remaining egg and hid it for the next dragon master to find and carry on his legacy. The egg turned out to be Mir, and Evan the new dragon master.

As it turned out, the Black Mage flew into a fury when Afrien took the curse for Freud. He killed off every single Onyx dragon remaining before the spell cast by the heroes took its toll and he fell dormant. When he woke up from the ice, he woke up terribly weak. Due to the dragon magic, he was unable to leave the island. He stayed to protect it and himself, waiting for his son to come find him. Black Wings ambushed him a few weeks ago, unfortunately, and left him and the island even weaker than before.

Afrien told me that he regretted not telling me this sooner, but he felt it was for my own good. It was better to think that Freud was dead than to think that he was living out his life while the rest of us were left frozen. The worse part of it—he was completely correct. I felt tears on my face, but I felt no sadness. Just anger, betrayal, pain. I turned on my heel and ran from the cave. I grabbed Sylv and didn't even think. I just mounted her and made her take off toward Lith, ignoring the calls of my companions. I didn't think about where I was going until I was on a boat ride to Orbis. I was going to Von Leon's castle in El Nath and ask where the Black Mage was hiding.

It didn't matter who I was angry at. It was all because of the Black Mage. He separated me from my friends, he kept me out of time for centuries, he terrorized my people, and he manipulated the one person of this time, or any time, that I could call my greatest friend since Freud. I left Sylv in town and went on the path to the castle alone, killing every monster and shadow that dared stand in my way.

I could see the castle just up ahead when a lone figure appeared in front of me. He was carrying a wooden doll and wearing Black Wings robes. I couldn't see his face due to his hood. I shot at him, but my arrows did little. Suddenly, he held out his hand and I couldn't move. My bows fell out of my hands and he pulled me to him. It was exactly like what happened in my dream. I cried for help and warned the fiend to let me go. The stranger just laughed. It sounded like a young boy.

Suddenly, something came between us and I fell back while the boy stumbled away. Standing in front of me, protecting me, was Aran, Evan, and the all-too familiar figure of Phantom. They all attacked the boy at once and I used the opportunity to grab my bowguns and shoot at him with all I had. He disappeared, defeated, and my friends turned to me.

Evan was the first to respond. He ran over and gave me a long hug, crying about how worried he got and how sorry he was for what happened. I hugged him back and I couldn't help but cry as well. I didn't feel angry anymore. I just felt scared and upset. Aran chided playfully not to scare me like that again or he'll have to beat me up. It made me laugh. Phantom and I greeted each other and shared our own long hug, despite Evan being reluctant to let go. It seemed like he thought I would disappear again.

Phantom gave me a short version of the story: he came out of the ice weeks ago, but wanted to stay in hiding like the thief he was. When he saw Aran and someone who looked like Freud, he embraced them with open arms. They told him about me being in trouble and they rushed to my rescue together. Phantom even tracked my movements.

They asked me what I was thinking when I just rushed toward Von Leon, when I was no longer as strong as I used to be. I told them my reasons and they completely understood. Aran told us that the person we just fought was Francis, a low level minion of the Black Wings. Knowing that, I was glad I was stopped. If I couldn't handle Francis, I couldn't hold a candle to Von Leon. Evan made me yet another promise—once we get stronger, we'll fight the Black Mage together. In turn, I promised him that I would never do anything without him again.

For the next few months, the four of us trained as hard as we could. It was good to see the familiar sight of Phantom and Aran sparring. It felt like the good old days. Evan and I trained up together as we were meant to. We all went everywhere, from Orbis to Leafre to Ludibrium. I was excited to see that I was slowly getting strong enough to use my most powerful attacks, as was Aran and Phantom. Evan was the most ecstatic of us all, having never witnessed such power before.

As we slowly reached our maximum power, terrifying news swept the Maple world—the Black Mage was rising once again. The Alliance called us in to confirm that there was a huge surge of power coming from Von Leon's castle. Everyone knew that it was the Black Mage. The Alliance put themselves in our hands. Phantom and Aran led one army while Evan and I led the other. As before, the four of us would fight together.

At the last minute, the Alliance brought in our missing link—the 5th Hero, Luminous. He was at most of his strength, but he already had a few good spells. He had just enough to help. We welcomed him with open arms and, just like that, we were ready for war. We gathered our armies and set off for Von Leon's castle. The plan was for Evan and I to lead our army to the front while Aran, Phantom, and now Luminous' army went around back. The Black Wings were already there, waiting. The surge of power felt just like the final battle.

Our armies charged and fought at the Black Wings like lions. I slaughtered the evil practitioners like cattle with Evan and Mir right beside me. Even Sylv fought them as hard as she could. From the other side, I could faintly hear Aran's cries of battle, Luminous' spells, and their army fight as well. The Black Wings were many, but most of them were no match for us.

By an unspoken signal, Evan and I made our way inside. We fought through creatures guarding the door and paused to wait for the others. While the moment was free, Evan pulled me aside and confessed. He confessed that he loved me, that he had felt this way for a very long time, and he had to tell me now before either of us died. He also promised me that he will try to survive for me, just as long as I survived. He ended his speech with a soft and gentle kiss. I didn't have a chance to respond to him before I heard the other arriving.

I promised mentally that I would stay alive for him, because I truthfully felt the same. I've known it since our first heart-to-heart after my fight with Orca. I've known it all throughout our adventure together. I loved him as well. At first, I've thought that it was because of Freud. That wasn't the case; this was something much more. Freud was my greatest friend and I missed him terribly, but Evan has become as much a part of me as my crown or my bowguns. Evan meant more to me than anything.

When we were all gathered, the 5 of us, we stormed into the room. Up on the throne sat the tyrant himself. The Black Mage, weaker than last time but still very powerful indeed. At his side were his generals. All hell broke loose. We fought him and his minions with all our might. Because we were at full power, we were able to beat them, but when it came time to fight the Black Mage, I was afraid we wouldn't make it. He hit us back strong and fast, barely giving us time to heal ourselves or each other.

We were wearing down, but so was he. The Black Mage was slowly getting desperate and started chanting to cast his curse, the same curse he cast centuries ago. We tried to stop him, but he threw it toward me. I braced myself, but the curse never made contact. Evan had jumped right in front of me and took the blow, flying to the other side of the chamber. I ran to him, as well as everyone else. He smiled and told us softly that he would be all right, that it was only fair for the new Hero. He fell unconscious, and I knew that it would only be minutes until he froze. With a cry of outrage, I summed up every drop of energy I had and attacked the Black Mage with full force. The others followed my example.

The battle was the biggest in history. The most powerful and destructive skills were used in one room and it was beginning to be too much to handle. Finally, the four fighting heroes joined hands and we combined skills to land one more killing hit. The castle exploded and I and the other heroes flew out and down to Earth. I passed out watching my friends and the person I loved fly away from me.

I woke up in my bed, my old bed in my hometown. I was greeted by the Elven elders, who told me what happened when I was unconscious. The Alliance won the war against the Black Wings and the surge of power from the Black Mage had vanished. His body wasn't found among the rubble, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't come back. All of the Heroes were found, alive and well. I was so happy, but I wondered about Evan. Was he dead, or frozen? The thought made my heart sink.

I left my room to see my friends there. Phantom had a variety of burns along his body. Aran had bandages around his head. Luminous had thick bandages around his hands and legs. I didn't see Evan at first, which made me panic. I asked them and they just smiled and pointed behind me. I turned and saw Evan there, his legs bandaged up, leaning on Mir. I ran and gave him a hug, crying tears of joy. He hugged me back and I couldn't help but ask him how this was possible. I saw him get hit with the curse, after all.

He explained to me that, by defeating the Black Mage before the curse took its toll, it rendered the curse useless. Evan was completely fine, but he still will refer to himself as having been cursed. He was an honorary Hero now. I couldn't help but laugh at his logic. He has always been a Hero to me. With everyone watching, I told him that I loved him and I kissed him just as he kissed me. He kissed me back and we held each other. There was applause all around us, and Aran's snide "finally!", but I didn't pay any attention. My attention was on Evan and his next two words. Words that set my future and made me the happiest queen and Hero in the Maple World.

"Marry me." He told me, a strength in his voice that I haven't heard before. I wholeheartedly accepted.


End file.
